Return to the Labyrinth
by Mlle. Phoenix Fox
Summary: POTCLabyrinth crossover: JACKOC Complete! Jack crosses paths with an enchantress, and his life changes forever.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: Okay, this is my POTC cross over fic...if you read, review and like it, I'm working on the sequel...that's also a LOTR crossover._**

**_peace, love and lipgloss, _**

**_Mlle. Fox_**

Return to the

Labyrinth

Chapter One

All of Port Royal was there for the wedding of the year. Governor Weatherby Swann's precious daughter Elizabeth, with the honey colored hair and light sandy eyes and pouty lips, was marrying William Turner, a handsome dashing young man with shoulder length brown hair, neat little mustache and warm brown eyes. He was just the town's blacksmith apprentice last year. But after the famous adventure where he rescued Elizabeth from the clutches of undead pirates with the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow's aid, he not only had enough commissions to open his own smithy, he had enough fame to appeal to those in polite society who begged to hear the tale at every engagement party. The Governor never thought him to be a bad match for his daughter seeing as how he was such an upstanding young man. At first he had been worried about their financial situation, but when Will became known as the finest sword-smith in the Caribbean, his doubts soon subsided. Governor Swann was so excited for this union, that he did something for the wedding completely unexpected.

"You hired traveling players to entertain us?" asked Elizabeth as she stood by her new husband, her eyes wide with delighted shock when they entered the ballroom for the reception. As jugglers juggled, fire eaters ate, and clowns danced, the Governor, deck out in satin, brocade and his finest wig chuckled and said,

"Well surely I'm entitled to an act of whimsy now and again?" Elizabeth smiled as Will said,

"Governor you surely have outdone yourself!"

"Will, you must start calling me Father. We are family and all you know." said the Governor wagging a finger at Will.

"My apologies…Father." said Will.

"I just wish you had some family or friends of your own blood here Will. You know I even considered inviting Jack Sparrow just because I know how much you admired him? But since he is a pirate it would not prove prudent wouldn't you say?" said Swann as Will and Elizabeth exchanged a look. Yes what about Captain Jack Sparrow? They had not seen hide nor hair of him since he sailed into the sunset last year. Commodore Norrington was still trying to catch him, but it proved to be folly. They heard stories of course. Jack Sparrow had sacked nine Spanish flagships, four Dutch merchants, and three English. All without firing more than a warning shot. He had escaped the East India Trading Company again, and apparently had an encounter with some Indians in the American colonies.

Suddenly a clown stood on a chair and shouted,

"Ladies and Gentlefolk! Madams and Mesuirs! It is my great pleasure to introduce to you a gem of magic! A mystery of beauty! The one! The only! JEZEBEL!" The candlelight flickered causing all the applauding audience to murmur but when they saw a slender curvy figure by the fireplace they settled into reverent silence. The figure held up a crystal ball only three inches in diameter. Then as if by magic, the ball shifted and rolled back and forth form the top of her hand to her palm. The ball danced on her fingertips before she flicked her wrist and a second ball joined in the fun. The audience gasped. This dance went on for several minutes until four balls were twirling and spinning in her hand. She transferred the whole collection back and forth from one hand to another smoothly like liquid. Then she waved her other hand over the pile and all four balls vanished into thin air. She bowed as the audience exploded with applause. Governor Swann, still clapping walked forward to the young woman. Unbeknownst to all present, a lone figure stood in the shadows of the bay windows clapping as well. The beads in his hair clinked and jangled as his dark kohl rimmed eyes followed the Turners as they walked forward as well.

'She looks lovely in white.' he mused. 'Can't say the same for dear William.' Then his eyes went up and down the figure of the girl magician. She looked fairly young but she had an old wise spirit about her. She had long flowing hair cut in curled layers to her waist. Her face was fine porcelain, her lips red roses in an ever present smirk, and her cheekbones slightly high. But then he noticed her eyes. Something was off. Why, one was brown and the other was violet! Very odd. Nice figure though.

"My dear Miss Jezebel! What a marvelous performance! How on earth do you do that?" asked the Governor. She simply widened her playful smirk and said,

"Magic, Governor. Magic!" The Governor laughed as Elizabeth said,

"Thank you so much for the performance Miss Jezebel. My husband and I enjoyed it."

"Well Mrs. Turner. I wish you and Mr. Turner every happiness on your marriage. And please…" She flicked her wrist and produced a crystal ball much to everyone's delight.

"Take this as a token of my esteem, and a wedding present. If you turn it to the right, it will show you your dreams." Jezebel said handing Elizabeth the ball. Elizabeth's smile widened when she took the crystal. Will noticed her necklace and asked,

"Miss Jezebel? Where did you get that curious necklace? It's of excellent workmanship. And I'm not sure if I've ever seen that kind of metal before." Jezebel fingered the silver pendent in the shape of a sickle and said,

"Family heirloom, Mr. Turner. Very old and very valuable. My brother has an identical one. "

"Brother?" said Will.

"My older brother Jareth. You could say he too is also a 'magician'. But he also holds a 'government' job, back home." said Jezebel.

"Really? And where might home be, Miss?" asked Swann. She smiled playfully again.

"Where fairies fly, riddles are born and where goblins dance." All three of her listeners laughed as the figure in the shadows was about to go. Suddenly, he came face to face with the edge of a pistol.

"Governor Swann!" shouted a stern voice.

"Yes Commodore Norrington?" asked Swann turning towards the voice. But he frowned when he saw the Commodore march Captain Jack Sparrow at gunpoint towards them with his hands up in surrender. Ladies fainted, and men murmured angrily.

"JACK!" cried Will and Elizabeth.

"William. Elizabeth. Salutations and many happy returns on this joyful day!" nodded Jack.

"Silence!" ordered Norrington.

"Commodore, I'm not sure bringing Captain Sparrow through the house was the proper course." said Swann.

"Unfortunately Governor I had no choice. Forgive me but with the wedding blocking the side yards, there was no other way to get to the front where my carriage is."

"Well take him out quickly! We're trying to have a wedding here!" ordered Swann.

"Weddings? I love weddings! Drinks all around!" cried Sparrow. All but one glared at him. That one turned out to be the mysterious lady magician laughing continuously.

"Oh let him stay Governor! He sounds like he's good for a few laughs!" said Jezebel. Jack eyed her.

"Are you mocking me Milady?"

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"Your beautiful eyes are laughing at me." he said smoothly. She smirked.

"Where I come from, a lot of eyes would laugh at you."

"Miss, this is not entirely a proper time to be cavorting with a Pirate!" said Norrington.

"Well, I say it is. And I'll let you know when it isn't, Commodore." she said with a regal air. All stood in shock. The Governor was flabbergasted, opening and closing his mouth at feeble attempts to speak. Ignoring the open jaws, she stepped forward and said,

"Would you like to get out of here Captain Sparrow?" Cautious, he said,

"And what would you profit from it Milady?"

"The thrill of doing something wicked." she smirked. He said,

"Fine, get me out of here." She grinned,

"Just walk out the door and go!"

"How can I do that with the Good Commodore pointing a gun at me?" he said raising his eyebrows.

"Well since the Good Commodore is frozen in time, that's not a problem." she said crossing her arms. Confused, Jack looked behind him. In shock, he saw Norrington as stiff as a statue. He looked around at everyone else. They too were locked in place. He turned back to her and asked nervously,

"What are you?"

"Magic." she simply stated.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Mortals always entertain me. I find you amusing. So you should go on to be more amusing to someone else." she said.

"Many think I'm daft, but not amusing, Milady." he said.

"Then they're missing out on a few good laughs." she said.

"So you think me a fool? A joke to be laughed at?" he asked with a hint of anger.

"If the boot fits. Don't let your pride rule your judgment Captain. Now If I were you, I'd get going." she said pointing to the door. Instead he stepped forward and said seductively and dangerously,

"And if I don't?"

"You don't want to challenge me, Captain. You'd never win." she stated. He grinned and said,

"Catch me if you can Luv." Then he stepped away and walked out the door. She blinked for a minute before waving a hand. Instantly, all the guests forgot that Captain Jack Sparrow was even there. All except Jezebel of course.

"That's curious. I felt like I just missed something." said Elizabeth.

"Miss Jezebel? Where did your pendant go? It was there a moment ago." said Will. Jezebel looked down to her blue and green bodice. Noticing the empty spot, she looked up and said to herself,

"Bad move Captain. Funny, but bad move!"

"I'm sorry what was that?" asked Swann straining to hear her. She smiled sweetly and said,

"If you'll excuse me Governor, there's someone I must go catch." Before she walked out Elizabeth asked,

"Why?" She turned back and smiled,

"Because he challenged me to. Good day."

_&&&_

The Black Pearl slipped away quickly from Port Royal at full sail with her back to the wind. Jezebel stood alone on the docks with her hair whipping about her face as she watched the ship leave.

"Leaving so soon Captain?" she muttered to the wind. Her cloak danced around her body until she was gone and in her place a fierce looking hawk with gold and brown feathers and one brown and one violet eye. The hawk took to the air with a screech rising high into the wind and flying towards the dark mahogany ship. Captain Sparrow fingered his newly acquired pendant as he steered his ship with mastery and skill. Then he remembered the beautiful previous owner and grinned. He almost felt guilty. After all she had gotten him out of there. So what if she knew a little magic? No one laughs at Captain Jack Sparrow and gets away with it.

"Blast ye ya Devil!" cried a voice below. Jack looked down at the deck and saw his crew ducking and diving from the attacks of a brown hawk. Sighing, he tied up the helm and stepped down the ladder to join his crew preparing his pistol to just shoot the stupid bird. But as he walked closer and prepared to fire, the bird backed off and a huge gust of wind rushed about the deck causing Jack and his crewmates to cover their eyes. The hawk screeched one last time and then the flapping of wings was gone. Jack lowered his arms and stood there in shock as his crew gasped all around him. There was the lady magician! Her hair flowed behind her as she faced the wind. Instead of the blue and green gown she had worn to the party, now she stood in a curve hugging, brown leather pantsuit with matching gloves and boots. Her cape was made of strips of brown and gold leather, as well as a few feathers here and there. She smiled wickedly as she said,

"Captain Sparrow. I believe you have something that belongs to me?" Behind him, Anamaria, a pretty, skinny black woman hit Jack's shoulder and hissed,

"What did you do?" He looked at her confused before turning back to the uninvited quest.

"I'm not sure what you're referring to Milady." he said while trying to pull a cocky grin.

"My pendant Captain. I want my pendant back." said Jezebel holding out her palm.

"Jack are you daft? Stealing from a witch? That's got to be bad luck!" said Gibbs by his side.

"I'm afraid it's worst luck than that sir. For I am no witch, but a Fae enchantress. Ten times more powerful than any witch of Satan's. Now Captain Sparrow, are you going to return my pendant or not?" said Jezebel.

"And what if I don't?" asked Jack.

"Then not only have you insulted a Fae enchantress, but a member of the Royal Court of the Underground. For I am Princess Jezebel Minerva Alexis, daughter of the late King and Queen of the Underground and great Fae Kingdom and sister to his Royal Highness Jareth, King of the Goblins, ruler of the Underground, Caretaker of the Labyrinth and Head of the Fae Clan. And as by the rules of magic, you must return to me my family crest and apologize to my brother and to me formally for insulting me." said Jezebel.

"Or else?" asked Jack. She smiled and stepped forward towards Jack who stood his ground while the rest of his crew backed up.

"Or else…I'm going to make you wish you had never been born!" she whispered in his ear. The crew began to mutter and protest when Jack lifted up a hand and said,

"Your highness, I'm disinclined to your request!" She furrowed her brows in anger.

"Means no." said Jack. She flipped her cape back and walked away. Turning back towards him, she said,

"Very well. Your choice Captain. Hmm. What a pity! But I'm curious. What makes you think you can challenge me?"

"I'm not about to roll over and drool for a stuck up royal snob. So defy you I must." said Jack trying to keep calm.

"Really?" Then she waved both hands producing a crystal ball. Holding it up, she said,

"Defy this!" Then she threw the ball over board and into the horizon. A cloud of thunder broke, lightning crashed and the waves became rough. Then, a huge funnel cloud came down from the sky and was headed straight towards the Pearl.

"Batten down the hatches!" shouted Jack as his crew scrambled about.

"What a pity…" echoed Jezebel's voice as Jack looked over his shoulder on his way back up towards the helm to see her vanish into thin air.

The storm was rough and violent and seemed to follow them wherever they went. North, east, south, west. It didn't matter. And the whole time they fought the storm, Jack swore he heard Jezebel's taunting voice sing,

'_All at sea again  
And now my hurricanes have brought down this ocean rain  
To bathe me again  
My ship's a sail  
Can you hear its tender frame  
Screaming from beneath the waves  
Screaming from beneath the waves _

All hands on deck at dawn  
Sailing to sadder shores  
Your port in my heavy storms  
Harbours the blackest thoughts

I'm at sea again  
And now your hurricanes have brought down this ocean rain  
To bathe me again  
My ship's a sail  
Can you hear its tender frame  
Screaming from beneath the waves  
Screaming from beneath the waves...

All hands on deck at dawn  
Sailing to sadder shores

_  
Your port in my heavy storms  
Harbours the blackest thoughts _

All hands on deck at dawn  
Sailing to sadder shores  
Your port in my heavy storms  
Harbours the blackest thoughts

All at sea again  
And now my hurricanes have brought down this ocean rain  
To bathe me again  
My ship's a sail  
Hear its tender frame  
Screaming from beneath the waves  
Screaming from beneath your waves  
Screaming from beneath the waves  
Screaming from beneath the waves

All hands on deck at dawn  
Sailing to sadder shores  
Your port in my heavy storms  
Harbours the blackest thoughts

_HA HA HA HA HAA!' _

_&&&_

The storm followed the Black Pearl around for a month. That is how long it took for them to reach Tortuga. And when they finally pulled in the storm raged on over the island causing the usually bustling party outdoors to be taken inside. Jack and his first mate Joshamee Gibbs and Anamaria came in from the storm soaking wet. A prostitute by the name of Scarlet walked up to them and said,

"My, look what the cat done drug in!" Jack smiled at the redhead,

"Scarlet, how much to warm an old friend's bones aye?"

"Not enough I'm afraid." said Scarlet dryly. Jack looked at her confused.

"I'm not following, Luv."

"I hear tell you and your mates have had a run in with a witch who's placed a curse on you." said Scarlet as Jack looked dryly at Gibbs who shrugged.

"Since I don't want no part of a curse, I'll have to just send ye some rum and bid you good day." continued Scarlet with a flick of her hair. Jack stepped forward a little and said,

"But Scarlet!" Defeated, Jack watched her form vanish into the crowd.

"Blast it Jack! Why don't you just give that Jezebel her necklace back and apologize!" said Gibbs as he pulled Jack by the arm to a small wooden table. Anamaria pushed aside a sleeping drunk from his chair and sat down.

"Because it's the principle of the thing! Take what you can and give nothing back! Besides, you weren't there! She insulted me first by thinking I was a fool!" argued Jack.

"Gee, I wonder where she got that idea?" asked Anamaria sarcastically. Jack glared at her and said,

"If you two are just going to keep nagging at me all night, I'll just find another table, Savvy?" And with that, Jack stood back up and walked away. Anamaria was about to call him back when Gibbs touched her arm and said,

"Leave him be lassie. He needs a little peace right now!" Jack sat down in the corner of the bar in a secluded booth. The shadows were a sharp contrast to what light lay around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a curvy figure sashay over to him. Without looking up, he said,

"Not afraid of curses are you darling? 'Cause with my luck it'd be a miracle if we got upstairs in one piece."

"Oh come now Captain. My little storm is hardly a curse…" Jack looked up at the owner of the too familiar voice. He saw Jezebel with her hand on her hip in a provocative and very low cut dress similar to that a normal prostitute would wear to work. Tattered, worn, and leaving little to the imagination. The only difference, was gold glitter covered every tatered edge.

"Nice dress." said Jack. She sat down opposite from him and said,

"You know what would go perfect with this dress?"

"You not wearing it?" offered Jack. She smiled and reached over the table to finger the pendant.

"My family crest!" she said. Pulling it out of her fingers, Jack said,

"If you're so powerful why don't you just take it?" She shrugged,

"Maybe if you were a Fae or a wizard. But seeing as to how you're a mortal, no can do. The rules of magic stated a long time ago that no magic being could take something from a non magic being."

"Rules of Magic?" asked Jack.

"As set down by the early courts. Sort of like your pirate's code." she said waving a hand.

"Ah, but the code is more guidelines than actual rules, Savvy?" said Jack. She leaned forward,

"Yes. But magic without rules is too wild. Too powerful. The rules keep raw magic subdued so no one gets hurt."

"Is that a guideline reserved just for magic, or do you use it in relations to the opposite sex as well?" asked Jack slyly.

"My dear Captain. What a Fae is restricted in the realm of magic, she makes up for when she's in love." said Jezebel slowly. Jack raised his eyebrows at this and said,

"Who said anything about love darling?"

"A Fae can only give their heart away to the first person they kiss. And it is only after they give away their heart, can they give away their bodies."

"And then?" asked Jack trying not to sound to edger to hear the answer. She smirked,

"Then the person in love with said Fae gets a wild ride." Jack gulped. He allowed himself an image of the beautiful enchantress and her wild ride before shaking the thought from his head. He couldn't think of her that way. She was his enemy! So what if that every time he thought of or looked at those mismatched eyes of hers, the word 'beautiful' came to mind?

"So are you going to give me my pendant or not?" she asked. He looked at her and said,

"Milady, I think not. No one tells me what to do and no one plays me the fool Savvy? Especially spoiled princess brats!" Clearly angry now, she stood up and leaned over the table. Jack allowed one quick peek down her chest before looking up at the Fae, who said,

"All right. I tried to be nice and give you an opportunity to just return my necklace with a quick, 'I'm Sorry.' But since you refuse you stubborn oaf you leave me no choice. No more Miss Nice Fae. The next time we see each other, I will have my family crest back and you shall return to the Labyrinth with me to apologize. And you will be punished for your insolence. In the meantime, I think I will leave you with a little curse to remind you that I'll be coming back for you soon."

"_What?"_ asked Jack blinking. She straightened up and said,

"Scared Captain?" Angered now, Jack stood up and stared her down,

"Never."

"You will be." she said before fading away. Jack looked around and then said,

"Curse? Yeah right. What can she do?" Then a large portly man with a peg leg burst in with an old musket.

"SPARROW!" he roared. A girl ran in behind him, very pregnant and pleading,

"DANNY DARLING I SWEAR JACK'S NOT THE FATHER!"

"THAT GIRL AT THE DOCK SAID HE WAS! THAT GIRL WITH THE MISMATCHED EYES!" he said scanning the room.

"Cripes!" mumbled Jack to himself as the man cocked the gun and aimed in Jack's general direction. The gun fired off as Jack hit the dirt. Scrambling to get away Jack said to himself,

"This just ain't me bloody day!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Jezebel fumed to herself as she flew back to the Underground. That rotten pirate! How dare he call her those things! She was not spoiled! Just wait until she told Jareth her little tale. He would help her teach that pirate a lesson! Yes sir! She transported herself to the Underground in a flash. She looked down expecting the lush rolling hills of green grass surround the sparkling white limestone walls of the Labyrinth and the Castle beyond the Goblin City. The Enchanted Forest would be in full spring glory and the fairies would be in a friendly mood for once. But she became shocked. The hills were dry, barren and scorched by the sun, the limestone walls dirty, crumbling and overgrown with weeds. The Enchanted Forest was dark and dead looking and she could hear the fairies hissing with venom. Jezebel swooped down to get a closer look. What had happened to her home? She flew towards the castle praying that her brother, the caretaker of the Labyrinth, the Goblin King himself, would be alright. And if he was, maybe he could explain what had happened to their home.

She landed on the ground before the Castle in the deserted city square. She changed back into her normal form and looked around. The once charming village was now a crumbled and dusty ghost town, with the drunken laughter of the Goblins on the wind. She started up the steps to the castle when a cultured voice shouted,

HALT! WHO GOES THERE?" Jezebel stopped in her tracks completely when a small fox dressed in the clothes of a nobleman with a feathered cap jumped out of his hiding spot and stood his ground before her. Jezebel put her hand on her hip and smirked at the little creature with an eye patch who was proceeding to growl at her,

"ANSWER ME MILADY! OR I SHALL HAVE TO USE FORCE!"

"Who wishes to know gentle sir?" she asked.

"Sir Didymus of the Order of the Underground! Defender of the faith, and loyal protector of our ill Goblin King! Again, I ask thee, who art thou?"

"Ill? When did the King become ill? Is that why the Underground is in ruin?" asked Jezebel deeply worried about her brother now.

"The King is ill of heartbreak Milady. And the Kingdom has not been the same since." said the knight.

"Heartbreak? Since when?" asked Jezebel.

"What a minute! Why should I talk of such things with a lady who has yet to identify herself?" asked Didymus.

"Princess Jezebel Minerva Alexis. Sister to the Goblin King. An honor to meet you Fair Knight." said Jezebel frustrated only slightly. The fox's bushy eyebrows rose upward in surprise.

"Well I…oh a thousand apologies Your Highness! I had no idea!" said Didymus bowing low.

"You are forgiven Sir Knight. You have served your post well. Now shall you take me to my brother?" asked Jezebel. The knight took off his cap and bowed again,

"My Lady." As he stepped aside to let her go first, she said,

"Thank you Noble sir." The small fox led her into the throne room. She gasped. The once grand and elegant banners flowing from the ceiling were now tattered rags a few drunken goblins made their hammocks out of. Dirt and trash were everywhere, but even more so than in the circular pit that she remembered playing in as a child. The throne was dirty and worn, badly needing a new cushion. A few chickens darted around her feet as she stepped forward to look over the throne to see her family crest. An owl and a hawk each holding one end of a sickle in one claw each, while the other claws held a crystal ball. Engraved in the sickle was the family motto, 'Il nat naa mani ta ta ve'. ' Nothing is what it seems.' Actually there was no Elfish word for seems, so the phrase really says, 'Nothing is what it's like', but Elfish also takes on new meanings with different dialects. So in a Fae's tongue, it is 'Nothing is what it seems'. The crest now was a chipped dirty shadow of its former self.

"Oh Jareth. What happened here?" she muttered. The fox pulled on her cape and took her out of the pitiful throne room to the upper hallway where the royal bedroom was kept. At her brother's door she saw a short wrinkled dwarf holding a tray full of food and knocking politely.

"Your Majesty? Please open up! You haven't eaten for days!" He pleaded.

"Perhaps I may be of some assistance." said Jezebel warmly. The dwarf turned to her and raised his bushy eyebrows.

"Your Highness! You're home!"

"Hello Hedwart."

"Hoggle!" cried the dwarf in frustration. Jezebel chuckled.

"Just kidding, Hoggle. What is wrong with Jareth?" she asked looking worriedly towards the door. Hoggle hung his head and said,

"The King got his heart broken, Jezebel. You know how you Faes can only love one person in their lifetime."

"He fell in love? With who?" asked Jezebel. Hoggle looked nervously towards the door.

"She Who Must Not Be Named." he said shifting his feet. Jezebel frowned and dryly said,

"Oh. He's in one of those moods. Well I'll get to the bottom of this." said Jezebel. Jezebel straightened up and knocked on the door.

"BLAST IT HOGGLE I SAID GO AWAY!" shouted a cultured voice from within. Jezebel merely folded her arms and concentrated. To Hoggle's and Didymus' wonder, she turned into a shadow upon the floor and flowed under the doorway. When she shifted back into her form, she said,

"Now is that any way to talk to your favorite baby sister?" The tall, lean, elegant man lying on the bed sat up. His long angular pale face with equally pale blond hair grown long and wild grew surprised. His mismatched blue and green eyes, once bright and mischievous were dull and depressed with huge bags under them from lack of sleep. His clothes were worn, faded, and dirty and he had actually grown an impressive and long blond beard badly in need of a trim.

"Jezebel?" he said. She stepped forward until she was directly in front of him.

"Jareth. Is that you under all that hair?" she asked brushing her fingers through his long tangled locks. He cracked a small smirk.

"I see you have not lost your sense of humor." said Jareth.

"Hmm, but you seem to have lost whatever little fashion sense you may have had!" she said scanning his clothes. He sniffed,

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well I thought I'd come home, see my big brother, and find out how the kingdom's been doing. Well, I've come home, seen my big brother, only to find out that the kingdom's has gone to pot!" she said sarcastically with her hands on her hips.

"I don't want to talk about it, Jez." Jareth said in an almost bored tone.

"Well I don't either right now. Right now I want you..."she said pulling him to his feet and dragging him to his bathroom. "to get out of those clothes, take a nice hot bath, wash yourself, and then get dressed in the clothes I'm going to pick out for you, comprende? Then I'm going to take some scissors to you Mr. Adams, and see if I can find my brother under there!" she continued flipping some of his hair and patting his cheek before walking out.

"There's no hot water." said Jareth before she left the room entirely. With a snap of her fingers, the tub was filled with hot, steamy water. Jareth smiled as he shook his head. Jezebel would never change. He slipped off his clothes and climbed in. He hated to admit it, but the water felt good to him. He conjured up a crystal and turned it to look at a frozen image of a young girl. A beautiful young girl with long raven hair and wide, innocent black eyes. Her round open face and her lovely pouty smile brought one to his face. She had been so creative, so full of imagination and dreams. Yet so wise beyond her years, despite having a little more growing up to do. Intelligent and kind. Bold and brave. That was his love. That was his...

"Sarah." he whispered to the image begging for it to be the real thing fingering the ball.

A little later, Jezebel was sorting through Jareth's clothes. Holding up a pair of leggings, she said to herself,

"Gees Jareth, a little tight don't you think?" The bathroom door creaked open and she heard Jareth say,

"Oh I don't know. I found them quite...satisfactory." She turned and saw her brother trying to give her a little smile. He had changed into the only non-tight outfit Jareth owned. A loosely fitted gray pajama pants, it's companion long since lost, and a long sleeve white undershirt.

"Not very Kingly. But they'll do until I can conjure you up some more appropriate attire." she said smiling back. She tossed the leggings aside and walked over to the wooden table in the center of the room. She picked up a pair of scissors and then pulled a chair out for him and patted the seat. Surrendering only after giving her a glare, he walked over and sat down. Silently she took his hair and gathered it in her hand in a makeshift ponytail. She took the scissors and began to hack at the damp hair. When she was done, she handed the locks to Jareth who pursed his lips in thought. It had been a long time since he had cut his hair. She stepped in front of him and did the same for his beard. Satisfied, she went back around and began to shape his hair into a neater haircut. They were in silence for several minutes until Jezebel said,

"So who is 'She Who Must Not Be Named'?" Jareth sighed,

"I see you've been talking with the servants."

"Well?" she asked.

"Long story short. A mortal I fell in love with. I challenged her to the Labyrinth. She won and refused my heart. The end." he said.

"And that's what caused this kingdom to disintegrate?" she asked. He nodded and said briskly,

"Happy?" She knew there was more to tell. But she said,

"For now." And she continued cutting. Once the hair on his head was done, Jezebel turned her attention to his beard. As she shaved his lathered up face with a straight razor, she said,

"I think I'll leave some of it. I'd always thought you'd look good with a goatee. But I'll take enough away so I can actually tell where your upper lip is." She said.

"Fine with me." he said. A few minutes later, she produced a mirror and held it up for her brother to see. He quirked his eyebrows when he saw his face again. His hair was the shortest it had ever been. A few whips of hair flopped in his eyes, and his goatee looked dashing on him. He stroked his facial hair and said,

"Not bad."

"This is the part where you say 'Thanks Jez for making me look like a normal Fae again!'" she said. He stood up and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you." he said. Then he pulled her into a tight hug. Surprised at this, since their family never was the tight hug kind, she shrugged and awkwardly returned the hug.

"I suppose I do need a little butt kicking right about now." he said. She looked up at him, which was an easy thing to do considering he was a head taller than her.

"That's what sisters are for."

"I'm glad you're here. It's been hard not having family around." he said quietly. She thought of their parents and nodded.

"It must be hard knowing you can never fall in love again." she said. He locked eyes with her and said,

"If you find someone to love, hold on to them. Hold on to them as tight as you can, understand?" She nodded quietly.

As she sent Jareth to the dining hall to eat something, Jezebel and a crew of recruited goblins, along with Hoggle and Didymus, began to clean up the castle. It was hard at first to get the goblins to pick up the trash and not eat it or throw it at each other, but luckily, Jareth had trained them to know that with one glare, a Fae meant business. Soon she, Hoggle, and the captain of the Royal guard, a tall goblin at four feet with an elegant long white beard went up into the castle tower where Jezebel learned Jareth had hidden away all the family portraits. It was dusty and crowded with cobwebs and canvases. She pulled back the cloth covering on one painting and came face to face with her parents. King Jared and Queen Jiselle. Hoggle looked at the portrait and scratched his leather cap.

"What happened to them again?" he asked in a curious tone. Gulping back the lump in her throat, Jezebel said,

"They died in an avalanche." The guard said,

"But I thought Faes could live for thousands of years!"

"We can. But we can be killed as easily as a mortal." said Jezebel stroking the painting. She had her fathers curly brown hair streaked with gold. Jareth had their mother's fair blond hair. She had her father's brown eye, while Jareth had his green one. She had her mother's violet eye, and he had her blue one. Jareth shared Father's high cheekbones and tall lean stature, while she was like their mother. Shorter and curvy. They were both elegantly dressed and regal looking with both having the Fae's characteristic arched eyebrows.

"Look at this one!" said the guard pulling back a cloth to reveal a portrait of Jareth and Jezebel as children. Jezebel laughed an embarrassed laugh.

"Oh no! I can't believe how young we looked! Gee, when was that? Fifteen hundred years ago?" she reflected putting a hand on her cheek. She smiled at how her younger self was just a little rounder and how the teenage Jareth was smiling with wicked innocence with the round cheeks of youth and not yet the elegant high bone structure he now possessed.

"How old were you?" asked Hoggle.

"I was only five hundred. Jareth was, gosh, fifteen hundred?" she pondered. With every portrait revealed, memories were made anew and laughter was shared. Finally she pulled back the last one as Hoggle and the guard began to load up the canvases to be brought back downstairs. Jezebel frowned. She didn't know this one. It was a simple charcoal drawing of a fifteen year old young mortal girl with dark eyes and curly dark hair. She had a wide eyed innocent look to her, yet, she also seemed sad somehow. As if she was lost. She wore a big puffy dress, heavily embroidered, suitable for any little girl playing princess, but not quite for a mature young woman. There was no artist that signed it.

'Only one way to get to the bottom of this!' thought Jezebel pulling off her glove. Fae are known for many powers, but only a few can master the memory reading. She placed her hand on the canvas and concentrated on the feelings, emotions and memories associated with this picture. She closed her eyes and soon a progression of images began to fill her mind. Slowly at first, but then they cascaded into a waterfall. She saw the girl running the Labyrinth, she saw Jareth, she saw the girl with Jareth, she saw Hoggle, she saw the girl with Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and another creature, a rock caller. She saw a little baby boy and she heard voices.

"_TOBY!"_

_"LUDO!"_

_"HOGGLE!"_

_"JARETH!"_

_"ATTACK!"_

_"RETREAT!"_

_"WOAH NELLY! DUCK!"_

_"AAARRRROOOO!"_

_"SARAH!"_

_"SARAH!"_

_"SARAH!"_

_"_Sarah!" said Jezebel snapping out of the spell. Hoggle and the guard froze in their tracks. She grabbed the drawing and rushed back downstairs with Hoggle pleading after her,

"Your Highness! Don't! Just let it be! DOH!"

Jezebel stomped into the dining hall to find Jareth picking at his food and taking a bite every now and then. She held up the drawing before her and said angrily,

"The girl you fell for was only FIFTEEN?" Jareth looked up at her with a hint of anger in his eyes mixed with regal boredom and said,

"I had forgotten about that picture."

"Jareth! I saw everything! You didn't just challenge her to the Labyrinth, you kidnapped her baby brother!" snapped Jezebel.

"She asked me to. You know a Fae has to do what their asked to do." said Jareth leaning back and playing with his napkin.

"Only when it doesn't hurt ourselves, the kingdom or anyone else! Jareth! You tried to force a FIFTEEN year old girl to be in love with you? Number one, you can't force love, it has to come naturally! Number two, I never saw you kiss her, so it must not be real love. Three, if you did love her, you wouldn't have endangered her or tried to take her world away!" yelled Jezebel. Jareth slammed his hand on the table.

"You don't know anything! I gave her everything she wanted!" he hissed looking dangerously at her.

"She was only FIFTEEN! She didn't know what she wanted! Especially when it came to love! Which as I already said, I doubt you really loved her!" she said. Jareth stood up and said,

"Oh? Well dear sister, allow me to enlighten you!" And with that, Jareth waved a hand and the room became an open field fresh with wildflowers. Jezebel looked around.

"Where are we?" asked Jezebel. Jareth circled her,

"The past."

"Which past?" asked Jezebel knowing time had little boundaries in the Underground.

"Well, my past. And the past of the girl. The year is around nineteen hundred and ninety in the Aboveground. And if you want to see how I love Sarah, then just look over there." said Jareth pointing over the hill. Jezebel did look and sure enough, she saw a younger version of the girl Sarah in braids and a crown of interwoven flowers. Then she looked into the trees and saw a young Jareth, age one thousand staring at the girl from behind a stone pillar in the park. Suddenly, the girl saw him.

"Who are you?" asked young Sarah. The young Fae gulped,

"Jareth."

"Hello Jareth. I'm Sarah. Would you like to play with me?" she asked sweetly. Jareth nodded timidly. He had never been around let alone talk to a mortal before. Soon the pair were chasing after each other and pretending to be a princess and a prince (which wasn't so much a stretch for Jareth) running from an evil dragon. Sarah flopped down on the grass and said catching her breath,

"I believe we have lost them My Lord." Jareth sat down beside her and said,

"Yes Milady."

"I wish to reward you brave Prince. Shall I give you a kiss?" asked Sarah. Young Jareth gulped and nodded. Young Sarah leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. But Jareth turned his head so their lips would meet. It was quick and sweet but then Sarah pulled back and said nervously,

"I have to go." Then she ran away leaving young Jareth baffled.

"Oh Jareth!" said Jezebel as the scene faded. She turned back around to her brother, who had his arms folded as he said,

"Well you know how us Faes are. One kiss given away in the innocence of youth and I am unable to love another ever again. And when she said I had no power over her, she might as well have said, I don't love you and I never will. I have no power over her, but she has every power over me." Noting his remorseful tone, Jezebel stepped forward and said,

"I'm sorry Jareth. I still think you went about courting her the wrong way, but I am sorry."

"I thought if I appealed to her when she was still young and innocent, she might agree to love me. But I was wrong." said Jareth leaning against the hardwood table.

"Jareth, it's not just that! You tried to force her! You didn't give her a chance to get to know you and the whole kidnapping her brother thing, didn't help! I've been traveling around the mortal world for some time now. Heck, I just attended a mortal wedding! Love can't be forced, it must be chosen. Both parties are not each others slave and they know each other well enough to want to know everything else. Do you see why she couldn't love you Jareth?" asked Jezebel putting a hand on his shoulder. He smiled weakly,

"No, but you have given me a lot to think about. Goodnight Jez." He kissed her cheek and walked out of the room.

"Jareth..." He turned back to face her.

"Why couldn't I see that memory of your first kiss when I read the picture's memories?"

"Something's can be hidden even from magic." he said. Jezebel watched him walk up the stairs to his chambers vowing to herself to try and see what this Sarah had that could make Jareth love her so even after rejection and the nature of the Fae.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Sarah Williams, Hoggle. Tell me where she is." said Jezebel to the dwarf.

"What makes you think I know anything about her?" asked Hoggle nonchalantly as he sat at the table whittling. Jezebel put her hands on her hips and said,

"Because I saw you Hoggle. She is your friend. You helped her defeat the Labyrinth. And you, Sir Didymus and the rock caller Ludo have kept in touch with her. You know where she is."

"And why should I tell you?" asked Hoggle indignantly.

"Because one, I'm your Princess and you are sworn as a citizen of the Underground to tell me. And two, because Jareth has become your friend hasn't he?" she asked. Hoggle looked down at the table.

"I felt sorry for him after Sarah left. He didn't act so bad anymore. Still was a little impatient, but he treated me like a friend should." Jezebel crotched down to his eye level.

"And we've always been friends, right? Ever since your days as the Royal Gardner?" she asked. Hoggle nodded.

"Then for your friend Jareth and your friend Jezebel, tell me where I can find Sarah." she pleaded.

"Sarah is my friend too. How do I know you won't try to get revenge on her? I won't do nothing to harm her!" protested Hoggle.

"Hoggle. I just want to know what kind of woman Sarah is that she could defeat my brother." she said.

"Promise?" asked Hoggle raising an eyebrow. She crossed her heart and held up her hand,

"Cross my heart and hope to die! Stick my big toe in the Bog of Eternal Stench if I should tell a lie!" He eyed her a minute before sighing,

"Doh, alright! I tell ya."

"Thank you my friend!" said Jezebel placing her hand on top of his.

_&&&_

Sarah Williams stepped out of the dormitory, and breathed in the fresh springtime air. She then proceeded to walk to her creative writing class. Her long black hair flowed behind her in the breeze. Just then she bumped into a young woman who dropped a stack of papers.

"Oh! Gees, I'm so sorry! Here let me help! I guess I wasn't watching were I was..." Sarah stopped talking and froze in mid-sentence. The young girl with long, curly golden brown hair had mismatched eyes. Immediately, an image of the Goblin King popped into Sarah's mind. Five years ago, she had journeyed into the Labyrinth, and conquered the figure she wished secretly in her heart could love her and take her away from reality and into the fairy tales she loved. Of course, she imagined him to look like her mother's handsome actor boyfriend, but who would have thought he did? Was that another way of his being 'generous'? She had never thought of that before.

"Um...I'm going to need that back!" said the girl.

"Oh sorry! Here you go!" said Sarah handing her back the paper.

"Thanks. Bye." said the girl walking off. Sarah continued on to class thinking,

'Ok, Williams. Lots of people have mismatched eyes. That was just a coincidence that sparked an unpleasant memory. Well...maybe not unpleasant. Toby getting kidnapped was awful and Jareth wanting to control me was worst, but I did have the adventure of a lifetime. And I made so many amazing friends! Hoggle, Didymus, Ludo and Ambrosious! And all the goblins, fierys, and other creatures of the Labyrinth. Hmm. I wonder what they are doing now?'

She walked into the glass building not knowing a hawk was following her overhead. Sarah sat in class for the next hour drawing pairs of mismatched eyes in her margins. One in blue ink, and one in green. Finally, she thought to herself,

"Man! Five years and I'm still not over my stupid teenage crush! He was handsome though. And mysterious. And dangerous, Williams, remember dangerous. Still, I wonder if he did just do it all for me. After all that look on his face when I told him 'You have no power over me', was just so sad. Still, I couldn't possibly think seriously about a guy like him. Bad boys come and go. You can't change them. They'll only change you.' She crumbled her paper up and said softly as class ended,

"Be careful what you wish for!" She threw the paper away as she left the classroom. Outside, she walked back towards her dorm, ready to go back to sleep. A figure wearing a black leather coat, white t-shirt, blue jeans and black leather gloves and boots stepped out of the shadows and watched her go. Jezebel unrumpled the piece of paper and said,

"Well...didn't totally reject him now did you Sarah?"

Later that night, Sarah talked on the phone with her friend, Tracy.

"I can't believe it Trace. I'm graduating in a few weeks! A two year writing degree and no clue what I'm doing with it!" said Sarah looking at a blue dress.

"_Well, you could stay and do acting with me! "_ said Tracy.

"No thanks. One play next week with Mr. Welch is enough thank you!" laughed Sarah.

"_So you're a fairy princess. What's your problem? With all those fantasy novels you read, you'd think you'd be thrilled."_ Sarah remembered the crystal ball room. She had been playing fairy princess then with a handsome king ready to kiss her. But it lacked the romance she would have wanted.

"Let's just say I had one too many frog princes to actually want to act out fairy tales anymore." said Sarah.

"_Oh! Who was he?"_ teased Tracy.

"Yeah! Notice I said princes not prince!"

"_Yeah, but only one special guy can turn you off to living fairy tales for good!"_

"Well, this guy did more than that!" said Sarah.

_"Oh? Anything I should be concerned about?"_ asked Tracy seriously.

"No! Just that, nothing is what it seems." she said.

"_Huh?"_

"Forget it. So what are you wearing to Tom's party?" asked Sarah changing the subject.

"_Nothing special. Are you taking anybody? You haven't really dated much." _said Tracy.

"Yeah well, as much as my frog prince failed me, there seems to be a lack of knights around to take me on their white horse and gallop me into the sunset." said Sarah.

"_Williams. Do us a favor and do something besides, class, homework, and staying home with a pint of chocolate fudge ice cream will ya?"_

"I do not stay home with a pint of chocolate fudge ice cream!...It's vanilla." joked Sarah. Hearing only Tracy's laughter on the other end, Sarah failed to notice the golden brown hawk fly away from her window.

_"Bye Sarah!"_

"Bye, Tracy!" said Sarah hanging up the phone.

Back in the Underground, Jezebel charged into her room. Actually, it was more of an outdoor garden situated on the roof of the castle. Willow trees encircled the ivy and rose bushes, their color and health preserved by the magic spell she had cast to give her room privacy from goblins, Fae eating monsters, and older brothers. In the middle of the space, lay her bed dressed in white linens with draped muslin everywhere flowing through the breeze. To the left of her bed, was a mirrored vanity. Besides that was another full length mirror. On the right, a tall wardrobe full of lavish clothes from around both worlds. One of her favorite things to wear, was her live fox Stoll, Danny. He was a good friend to talk to when she was down. Her other favorite piece was an enchanted scarf named Isaac. The folds of the cloth would form to make a loose face as it draped along her body or when crumpled up on her vanity like he was now. He was a little cantankerous sometimes.

"Hey! She's back!" said Danny from his spot on the vanity.

"About time!" huffed Isaac. The various crystal gazing balls in all shades of the rainbow acting as decor reflected her figure flop onto her bed from their respected pedestals around the room.

"Hey Jez!" greeted Danny.

"Not now Danny! I need to think!" said Jezebel as she conjured up a crystal to juggle around her finger tips.

"Oh swell. Here comes talking to herself again!" said Isaac.

"Shush! I'm trying to hear!" scolded Danny. Jezebel closed her eyes.

"Ok. I have a few problems. On the one hand, there's Jareth. He's depressed, heartbroken and letting the Labyrinth die. But I can't get him to make the Labyrinth alive again unless he's happy and not heartbroken. But the only way he'll be happy and not heartbroken, is if he has Sarah. That leads to problem number two." She conjured up another ball in her other hand and switched them back and forth from hand to hand.

"Sarah is attracted to Jareth. But she won't admit it because she cast him into the role of the villain a long time ago. And she can't get over that, until Jareth lets her get to know him, and tells her the truth of how they really met! But she won't come to the Underground again if her life depended on it! And of course let's not forget Captain Jack Sparrow!" said Jezebel opening her eyes as she produced one more crystal and looked into it. The pirate's face came into view.

'Yes let's not forget that handsome devil! Wait, did I just think handsome? Oh never mind!' she thought. She cast Sarah and Jareth's faces into the other crystals as well.

"Ok, Captain Sparrow needs to be punished, Sarah needs to get back with Jareth, and Jareth needs to get his act together and restore the Underground! But how? I've heard of killing two birds with one stone, but three? Sigh!" she sighed as she began to twirl the crystals in her right hand as they clinked happily along. She saw the reflection of the dry barren Labyrinth over her lush green room.

'My room must be the last spot of color in the whole Underground! Look at the Labyrinth, why...' Then the wheels of her head began to turn. She sat up and turned around to face the setting sun over the Labyrinth. She smiled,

"Of course! The Labyrinth!" She then smiled wickedly,

"I've always wondered what it would be like to control the Labyrinth!" She blew the crystals off her hand turning them into glass bubbles floating to the horizon.

_&&&_

"Absolutely NOT!" said Sir Didymus as his faithful steed Ambrosious whimpered.

"No!" said the tall, gorilla like beast known as Ludo, his bulldog like face scowling.

"I told you I'd do nothing to harm her!" said Hoggle pointing a finger at Jezebel. She had summoned them to her room fifteen minutes ago where they could enjoy privacy.

"Please! Without you the plan won't work!" pleaded Jezebel.

"Tricking the King, YOUR OWN BROTHER, into thinking you've overthrown him, then making Milady Sarah run the Labyrinth with him, to save us, her friends from supposed danger, and then throwing in a vile pirate just for kicks and giggles? Disgraceful!" growled Didymus.

"It will only be for thirteen hours! And no one will come to any harm!" said Jezebel.

"But we will be lying to Milady Sarah! And to His Majesty! The only part of this charade I approve of is punishing that pirate Sparrow for stealing your property Highness!" said Didymus. Hoggle held up a hand,

"Wait. Why only thirteen hours?"

"Because according to the Rules of Magic, that is how long I, the Princess Enchantress can control the Labyrinth. The King is the only one with full control. I can control it for a while because then it could give Jareth a day off every now and then." explained Jezebel. Hoggle scratched his cap,

"And you're sure Sarah will fall for Jareth? That she's even right for him?"

"Faes wouldn't be able to fall in love with only one person, if part of them couldn't tell they were right for them. Besides, this is my brother's every happiness on the line. And if Sarah still refuses him, then this will give them both some closure." said Jezebel.

"Well...we would be doing it for Jareth's sake. And Sarah's if what you say if true about her feelings for Jareth. And we could just think of it as giving Jareth a day off..."said Hoggle.

"But Sir Hoggle! Tis an act of treason!" protested Didymus as Ambrosious barked.

"Yes, well, it is for the good of the Kingdom! Besides, Jez wouldn't commit treason against her own brother if it wasn't for his own good!" reasoned Hoggle. Didymus furrowed his brows and thought. Jezebel looked up at Ludo who shook his head. Finally, Didymus said,

"All right! I say yay! For the King, Milady Sarah, and the Kingdom!" Jezebel smiled and asked,

"And the rest of you?"

"Ludo help Sarah!" said the Rock caller.

"You can count on me!" said Hoggle.

"Hey us too! We can help!" yelled Danny. They all turned to look at the stoll. Didymus asked in a curious tone,

"I say, have we met?" Jezebel stood and said,

"Alright. Now, I want you three to assemble the goblins! Ask them for their help. I'm sure they'll be eager to see their King tricked a little!"

"At once Milady!" bowed Didymus as Hoggle rolled his eyes and walked out. Ludo and Didymus and Ambrosious soon followed. Jezebel laid back on her bed and sighed as she gazed up at the early night sky.

"Interesting night isn't it your Highness?" said a voice. She sat up and sat a tall, skinny man with brown skin, and a shaggy haircut in flowing blue cape and suit standing on the castle wall. Unlike royal Fae though, his eyes were a single shade of gold.

"Marin! How good to see you! Please, come in!" said Jezebel standing up. Marin stepped down and said,

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." Jezebel froze.

"How much did you hear?" she asked nervously.

"Oh...all of it!" teased Marin.

"Marin, please don't tell Jareth! I have a plan, it's just..." Marin place his gloved index finger on her lips and said,

"Relax. I'm like the goblins. I'd like to see Jareth get a taste of his own medicine. In fact, I even would like to help you out."

"How?" asked Jezebel. He circled her.

"How would you like to have MORE than thirteen hours to make your plan work?" he offered.

"How?"

"I found a spell that lets anyone control the Labyrinth." he whispered in her ear. She gasped,

"What?"

"Mmm Hmm! For however long you want! It's one of the old spells from before the early courts." said Marin.

"Wait a minute! That's old magic! Old magic has to tap into raw power and that's too dangerous for a Fae!" said Jezebel.

"Maybe. For a single Fae. But with the two of us, we could control it!" said Marin.

"No Marin. I appreciate the gesture, but thirteen hours will be just fine!" said Jezebel. He shrugged,

"Your funeral. I just thought I'd help out an old friend. Serve my king by forcing him back into shape! But now, the offer is closed. You can't change your mind!" said Marin preparing to go.

"Thanks anyway!" she said as he stood on the castle ledge. He turned and bowed,

"Highness!" Then he transformed into a blue jay, and flew off. He flew until he reached the edge of the Goblin City. His guards, the Gurnocks, a tall skeleton like race with four arms and no eyes and a leathery thick skin pulled tight against their hunched over bones stood ready. The largest said,

"She said no to helping you take over the kingdom, didn't she Master?"

"Hmm. Yes she did. Luckily for us, she's planning an elaborate ruse that will leave the Labyrinth vulnerable and Jareth even weaker. A perfect time for me to conquer the Underground don't you think?" He laughed evilly leaving his guards silent.

"Well, laugh!" barked Marin.

"At what?" asked one of the guards. Marin pinched the bridge of his nose and yelled,

"Never mind! Just move out!" He turned back to the City walls and said,

"Soon, you'll be all mine!"

That night, Jezebel and Jareth sat down to dinner. Jezebel happily noticed Jareth had received some of his appetite back, but he still looked melancholy.

"So I thought we could work on restoring the Labyrinth tomorrow." she offering taking a sip of her wine. He sighed,

"I don't feel like it right now, Jez."

"It's just that...there's this pirate..."said Jezebel looking down into her cup. His interest piqued, Jareth listened while taking a bite of his chicken.

"He stole my pendant!" she said embarrassed. He half smirked,

"So that's where it is!"

"He's refused to apologize and return it! Called me the most insulting thing!" she stormed.

"What'd he call you?"

"A stuck up royal snob! A spoiled Princess brat!" she fumed.

"Ah, so he knows you're royalty?"

"And a Fae Enchantress! You would think he wouldn't mess with magic, but he seems to be not afraid of it! Like he's seen it before!" she huffed. He waved her off and said, returning his attention back to his plate,

"Just use the Labyrinth however you like!" She smiled inwardly, but her face was a cool slate.

"However I like?" she questioned. When Jareth nodded she said,

"Thank you your Majesty. I shall!" Taking a sip of her cup, she looked over its rim to see Hoggle by the doorway, giving her thumbs up and mouthing,

"THEY-RE-IN!" She smiled and said,

"Well, here's to having a little fun at other's expense!" she toasted raising her glass.

"Let the games begin!" said Jareth raising his own cup. He didn't know how right he was.

_&&&_

The next morning, Jareth woke to bright sunshine on his face. But instead of the castle ceiling, he saw a dusty blue sky all around him. He sat up and found not his comfortable bed, but the dusty barren ground as his pillow. And he was no longer dressed in his pajamas, but a plum leather coat with multiple collars that hung down mid thigh. He wore form fitting gray linen pants and tall black boots. Plum gloves completed the look Confused he saw he was just outside the walls of the Labyrinth. And even further to his surprise, the Labyrinth was restored! No longer did weeds grow and walls crumble. He could see the gigantic maze shift paths from here. He leaned back on his hands and then felt a piece of paper. He unrolled the scroll that it was and read,

'_We regret to inform you that you have failed in your duties as King of the Goblins, the Labyrinth, the Fae Kingdom and the Underground. From this moment on, you are stripped of your title and your powers. As ordered by Her Majesty, Queen Jezebel the First, Queen of the Goblins, Caretaker of the Labyrinth, Head of the Fae Clan, and master of the Underground. Long live the Queen.'_

"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! JEZEBEL!" roared Jareth standing up.

"Well I thought it had a nice ring to it!" said Jezebel's voice echoing throughout the plain. Jareth looked behind him and saw his sister grinning with her arms folded.

"What have you done?" he fumed.

"What you told me to. Use the Labyrinth however I like! But I couldn't do that without complete control so here we are!" she sang. He walked to stand over her.

"And so you took my throne?" he asked dangerously. She quirked an eyebrow.

"It wasn't as if you were using it." Stepping past him she said,

"Since you are my brother, I'll give you a chance to regain your throne."

"How? By begging?" asked Jareth dryly.

"I had in mind more of a game. You running the Labyrinth, against two opponents. If you beat them to the Castle beyond the Goblin City before the end of thirteen hours, I'll give back the crown and accept my punishment. If you don't you end up as a permanent resident in the Bog of Eternal Stench! Agreed?" she asked looking over her shoulder at him.

"And I suppose one of my opponents is that pirate you were talking about at dinner last night?" stated Jareth folding his arms. She nodded,

"Right as rain! His name is Captain Jack Sparrow. And don't let the drunken swagger fool you. I think it's safe to say he's as clever as a Fae!"

"Please don't start rhyming!" asked Jareth.

"Anyway, I'm off to retrieve him, right now. So if you'll excuse me?" she said.

"And the other opponent?" asked Jareth. She smiled,

"Let's just say that's a surprise! But Jareth, are you sure you want to do this? After all this is what you acted like you wanted."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have been acting like you don't want to be king. So I granted your request." she said.

"I know you Jez. You mean what you say about controlling the Labyrinth. But I also can tell you have something up those red leather sleeves of yours. So I'll play along for now. But when I figure out what you've got in mind, you will regret this day!" threatened Jareth. She smiled before fading away,

"See you in a few minutes!" Jareth sighed,

"I knew I should have turned her into a newt when we were younger."

_&&&_

Sarah stepped off the stage with a bow. She handed the roses off to her stage manager and reveled in the applause still erupting from the audience. Now she knew why her mother was an actress. People clapping for you is a high, but not something Sarah could do all the time. She walked into her dressing room and took off her shoes and her pantyhose. She then slipped a pair of jeans under her white medieval styled dress with gold embroidery. She slipped on her sneakers and was about to put the dress off, when she heard clapping behind her. She turned with a start and saw the young girl with mismatched eyes that she had bumped into the other day. She was wearing a red leather pantsuit that hugged every curve of her with a flowing velvet cape attached at the neck and wrists.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my room?" Sarah demanded.

"Only someone who wished to congratulate you on a job well done. You're the best fairy princess I've seen since, well, myself." said Jezebel smiling warmly.

"Who are you?" asked Sarah.

"Does the name Jareth, ring any belles?" asked Jezebel folding her hands in front of where she leaned against the vanity. Sarah eyes opened wide.

"You're not Jareth are you?" she asked. Jezebel waved a hand and said,

"NO! I'm his sister Jezebel! Gees what gave you that idea?"

"One thing I learned from the Labyrinth, nothing is what it seems." said Sarah.

"And I suppose you're going to now tell me I have no power over you?" said Jezebel.

"Well you don't! You or Jareth!" said Sarah.

"Don't be too quick to cast the role of the villain Miss Williams. After all, 'nothing is what is seems'." said Jezebel. This caused Sarah's brows to furrow.

"Anyway, Jareth has no power whatsoever! Especially since I've just taken his throne!" continued Jezebel grinning. Sarah opened her mouth in shock.

"What?"

"And I've come to ask you to play a game." said Jezebel.

"Really?" said Sarah skeptically.

"Yeah. You run the Labyrinth against Jareth and another 'friend' of mine. First one to the Castle before thirteen hours wins!" said Jezebel.

"What's the catch?" asked Sarah. Jezebel stepped forward and said,

"Your friends freedom."

"WHAT!" yelled Sarah. Jezebel produced a crystal and turned it to let Sarah see her friends calling for her and for help.

"Why?" asked Sarah.

"My brother went easy on traitors to the crown. I'm a little tougher!" said Jezebel.

"So, what? Are you going to turn them into stone or something if I don't win?" demanded Sarah. Waving the crystal away, Jezebel said,

"Not a bad idea."

"Fine. I'll play your game and I'll win!" said Sarah. Jezebel smiled.

"I thought you might say that!" Jezebel stepped to the side and the wall behind her turned into the Underground countryside.

"If you'll kindly wait there, I'll be with you shortly. I still have to pick up my 'friend'." said Jezebel gesturing towards the entrance. Sarah stepped inside and asked,

"So who is this..." But when she turned around and saw nothing behind her but barren wasteland, she continued,

"Friend?"

_&&&_

Captain Jack Sparrow laid face down on the bed and gave a great yelp as Anamaria pulled buckshot out of his rear end. This time, a farmer, older than the hills shot at Jack when they had docked near his farm at St. Charles.

"Twenty-seven." said Anamaria dropping the piece of metal in a little pan Gibbs was holding.

"Jack, this be the fifth incident of bad luck in the last month! Running from that peg leg, getting chased by the Royal Navy, sharks, fleas and lice at the same time!" said Gibbs. Jack scratched his head and said,

"Don't remind me!"

"Just apologize to that 'Fae' and get this over with!" said Gibbs.

"Normally I would agree, but she's done said I've run out of chances maTE!" yelped Jack as Anamaria pulled out,

"Twenty eight!"

"Sigh! Ana darling, if you're going to do that, warn me first hmm?" said Jack expecting some biting remark from his boson. When silence came, he asked,

"Anamaria?"

"Nice view!" said a familiar feminine voice that was not Anamaria. Jack looked over his shoulder and saw the Fae enchantress smiling and shifting her glance to his back side. Flustered, he slipped off the bed and pulled up his pants with his back to her.

"What I just told Anamaria, goes for you too, Luv!" he said. She drew circles on his bicep.

"Party pooper!" she pouted. Ignoring the chill the touch sent up his spine, he turned around and saw Gibbs and Anamaria frozen in time behind him.

"I see you've still got your touch!" said Jack.

"Hmm!" she said playing with the trinkets in his hair.

"So...how's your brother?" asked Jack trying to get her hands away. She coyly smiled,

"Well, my dear brother had to be dethroned. So now, it's Queen Jezebel."

"Why did he have to be dethroned?" asked Jack.

"The kingdom was going to pot. So now that I'm Queen, I've decided your punishment." she said.

"And that...would be?" he asked.

"I'm not going to give you one." she said. Jack blinked and cleaned out his ears.

"Sorry Luv, but I must have busted me eardrums. I thought you said you weren't going to punish me?" he asked.

"I did. I've decided a trade is in order." she said.

"Trade?" he asked suspiciously.

"You run the Labyrinth, and make sure the other two opponents running it with you don't make it to the Castle beyond the Goblin City before thirteen hours, and I'll release you and the Black Pearl." said Jezebel.

"Since when did the Pearl figure into all this?" asked Jack.

"Since I've decided to hold it for ransom until you give me my pendant back and complete my little task." she said cheerfully.

"What?" shouted Jack.

"Relax! All you have to do is beat the Labyrinth and make sure my brother and his friend, don't. Simple." she said cocking her head.

"And if I refuse?" he asked.

"Then I'll make sure you'll live to see just how far my curse can go!" said Jezebel. Jack gulped and then sighed. He put on his hat and coat and said,

"Lead on your Majesty. Lead on!" Jezebel pointed to the far wall of his cabin, and to his wonderment, he saw an enormous, and elaborate maze just beyond the barren hillside on which he stood. As the Pearl faded away behind him, he saw the tall castle peeking up above the Labyrinth. He turned back to the Fae and said,

"Don't look too bad."

"It's worst than you think. And time is short." she said.

"May I receive a good luck kiss then?" he asked cheekily.

"Kiss yourself!" said Jezebel as she faded away. Jack, Sarah and Jareth stood at different places outside the Labyrinth walls. Then they heard Jezebel's voice say,

"Let the games begin!"


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: Just wanted to note that I don't own any of the songs in italics. I'm not sure who does, but it's not me!_**

Chapter 4

Sarah started to walk closer towards the Labyrinth when she tripped over the hem of her dress.

"Shoot!" she said as she got up. Inspecting the dress, she noticed a rather large rip around the knee. Sighing, she ripped it further until the skirt was gone completely leaving only the bodice and a sash of white fabric around her waist. Dusting her blue jeans off, she said to herself,

"Well feet! Here we go again!" She made her way to the outer wall of the Labyrinth. The fairies flew around the outer plants. But to Sarah's wonder, they were not even smiling to themselves, but hissing and spitting all over. She looked to the Labyrinth and felt along the walls trying to figure out where the door was. Unnoticed, a bit of the overgrown ivy began to trail along her hand. When Sarah felt something brush up against her, she looked down and saw the ivy threatening to submerge her hand. She pulled and when it wouldn't let go, she pulled harder until she was released and sent flying to the ground landing on her behind. She heard the ivy snicker as their eyeballs watched her. She got to her feet and said,

"How do I get into the Labyrinth?" Suddenly, the doors opened with a long creak and she cautiously stepped inside. She saw a clock hanging on the wall of the long corridor. She had already wasted ten minutes. She looked to her left and saw a clear path; she looked to her right and saw overgrowth and weeds.

'Last time, I figured the easy way was the wrong way. This time, I'm sure she's switched everything around.' So left she went. She felt along the walls trying to find the hidden opening careful to avoid the Eyeball ivy. But everything was solid She sighed in frustration as she continued on.

&&&

Jareth walked around the outer wall until he came to a spot where he saw the sparkle of the Labyrinth turn a different hue of gold. Unlike Jack and Sarah, he had the advantage of knowing how the Labyrinth works.

"How do I get into the Labyrinth?" he said in a bored tone. The doors opened and he walked in seeing the clock show fifteen after thirteen. He smiled,

"Jez, you really do underestimate me don't you?" Then he walked towards the clock and instead of hitting his nose with the minute hand, disappeared into the hidden opening and went to the right.

_&&&_

Jack went along the wall until he spotted the fairies buzzing around and hissing. Walking up to one, cautious not to scare it away, he stared at it in wonder until the thing turned suddenly and bit him in the nose.

"Ouch!" he said standing up straight and holding his nose. After making sure there was no blood, he glared at the fairy and contemplated pulling his gun on it. But figuring that even he is not that good a shot, only checked to see if his gun was loaded before asking himself,

"Alright, how does one get into the Labyrinth, I wonder?" Then he heard a long, rusty creaking sound. Turning to see the doors had opened; he stepped inside and looked around.

"That's interesting!" he said to himself tucking his gun back into his sash. Looking to the right and to the left, he chose the right figuring the easy looking way was an easy way to get lost. The clock read twenty after.

He walked along, noting how for an elaborate maze, there seemed to be no openings. He stepped over the fallen logs and brush in his path before breaking into a quick run. But still, it was all the same. Finally he stopped to catch his breath.

"You know...for wanting me to play your game you sure don't play fair!" Jack yelled to the air hoping Jezebel had heard him. Then he heard a feminine shout of frustration. He jumped and looked around for the Fae enchantress. Instead, his eyes landed on a dark haired woman a little way down the path beating furiously against the walls before slumping down to one side and balling up like a kitten. He stepped slowly towards the woman. He soon heard her muffled sobs and instinctively took out a worn, dirty rag. He stopped before the woman and handed the cloth down to her. Slowly she looked up and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"I believe that that is the purpose of this here handkerchief Missy." said Jack. The young woman took it and said,

"Thank you." She wiped her eyes and said,

"Who are you?" Jack slurred,

"Captain Jack Sparrow at your service, Milady." She smiled weakly at him and said,

"I'm Sarah Williams." Jack nodded and said,

"And do you come here often Miss Williams?" She huffed weaving a hand through her hair,

"Oh, once every five years, now. You?"

"First time." answered Jack offering a hand to help pull her up.

"Word of advice Captain. Nothing in the Labyrinth is what it seems to be." said Sarah as she took Jack's hand. As he pulled up, she looked him over and said,

"So Captain what are you? A pirate or something?"

"Perhaps. What are you? A fairy princess turned farm boy or something?" he asked. Seeing her confused look, he shifted her eyes to her blue jeans and sneakers. She looked down and said,

"I was in a play and I was getting undressed when Jezebel showed up." explained Sarah.

"Well lass, at least she didn't see your bare bottom like some around here!" said Jack. Sarah quirked an eyebrow.

"Really? May I ask why you had your pants down?"

"You may." nodded Jack.

"Well?" asked Sarah after a moment.

"Let's just say I wasn't enjoying myself, Savvy?" answered Jack. Sarah nodded but then saw the pendant around Jack's neck.

"Where did you get that?" asked Sarah nervously. Jack fingered the pendant.

"Stole it from Jezebel. That's how I got into this little mess in the first place. Why do you ask?" said Jack. Sarah shrugged,

"I was just curious."

"Or just curious to know that I am in fact Jareth or Jezebel in disguise trying to fool you...perhaps?" asked Jack. Sarah locked eyes with him.

"Well I wouldn't be surprised."

"That's alright. I admire a girl who can spot a deception when she sees one. But I swear on the Code of the Brethren, that I am who say I am, Savvy?" said Jack. Smiling Sarah said,

"Savvy." Jack clapped and rubbed his hands together.

"Right then! What say you and I try to find an opening to this puzzle, aye? What say you?"

"Aren't we suppose to be competing against each other?" asked Sarah.

"Technically. But systematically, if we join forces we double both our chances at getting out of here with our necks. And if we double of chances of getting out of here with our necks, then we can assume it won't matter which one of us wins since we both would win, Savvy?" Sarah nodded and said,

"Yeah, okay. But I've felt all along the walls and there doesn't seem to be any openings!" said Sarah.

"Ahh...so the openings are hidden aye?" said Jack.

"Yeah, at least that's how it was last time. But I think Jezebel would figure I try to use my past experience in the Labyrinth, so then she would switch everything around. But since the doors opened the same way they did, maybe they didn't, so..." Jack interrupted her by placing a finger to both of their mouths before saying,

"Why don't we do less talking and more walking aye?" Sarah nodded before placing a hand on the wall hoping to feel an opening. Jack followed her example with the opposite wall. Silence fell between them before Sarah said,

"So...where are you from?"

"The Caribbean. And I hope to get back there soon." said Jack.

"Are you really a pirate?"

"Aye."

"What year?" asked Sarah in a curious tone.

"1675. Why?" asked Jack.

"I knew it! The Fae can go anywhere in time they want! I'm from the year 2004!" said Sarah. Jack turned his head with his eyes wide.

"Really? That's interesting!" he said before turning his eyes back to the corridor before him.

"That's very interesting!" he said stepping over a branch.

"So Jezebel is just mad at you for stealing her pendant?" asked Sarah.

"Well, that, and I called her a snob and a brat among other things!" smirked Jack.

"Oh so you didn't ask her anything?" said Sarah.

"Don't think so. Why?" he asked.

"Faes have to grant requests made unless they harm anybody. My friend Hoggle told me." said Sarah.

"Heggle?" asked Jack.

"HOGG-LE. And don't forget it. He's one of the reasons I'm here. Jezebel is holding him and my other friends' hostage until I beat the Labyrinth again." she said.

"Speaking of which how did you beat the Labyrinth before?" asked Jack.

"My friends helped me mostly. Hoggle got me through over half the Labyrinth, Sir Didymus the fox knight helped me through the bog and the forest, and Ludo the rock caller beast helped me get through the Goblin City." said Sarah.

"And what got held over your head that time to make you go through the Labyrinth?" asked Jack.

"My baby brother. Technically, I asked Jareth to take him away, but I was just a moody teenager who only half meant it never thinking for a million years that Jareth even really existed no matter how much I wanted him to." said Sarah.

"Wanted him to?"

"Yeah, you know. Silly teenager with a silly crush." laughed Sarah.

"So you think this Jareth is attractive?" asked Jack.

"Sure. I mean, I'd have to be blind not to notice right?" asked Sarah.

"And what are you going to do when we run into him?" asked Jack.

"What?" asked Sarah pausing.

"Well after all, it would seem to me that if we were allowed to meet, than one can only assume we shall meet Jareth can we not?" reasoned Jack.

"That's true. But gees, I...never thought about meeting with Jareth again." said Sarah subconsciously running a hand through her hair. Noting how flustered she got, he said,

"Well if this Jareth bloke is half as good looking as his charming sister, then we are in for a...interesting time, aye?" Sarah looked at him slyly and said,

"So...you think Jezebel is attractive?"

"Sure! I mean, I'd have to be blind not to notice right? Sides..."he said looking her up and down suggestively,

"I've never met a woman I didn't like. It's just some like Jezebel are the ones that catch me eye more. With her long, silky hair, her cute, tight, curvy little body, those rosy lips and those gorgeous eyes of hers..." he said trailing off grinning wickedly. Sarah smiled,

" So you're definitely attracted right?" Jack smiled at her,

"Only as much as you are to Jareth!"

"Oh I'm not attracted to him! Not after what he did to me! Taking my brother, threatening to turn him into a goblin, and then trying to force me to love him!" huffed Sarah.

"What?"

"He asked me to stay with him! To 'love him, fear him and he would be my slave!' Huh! Yeah right!" she said. Jack thought back to what Jezebel had told him about Faes in love.

_'A Fae can only give away their hearts to the first person they kiss...'_

"Did you ever kiss Jareth?" asked Jack.

"No why?" asked Sarah.

"Just curious." he said before thinking,

'That's interesting. Why would Jareth try to get Sarah to love him if he hadn't given his heart away with a kiss like Jezebel said?'

"You know, come to think of it, I did ask Jezebel something." said Jack.

"What?"

"I asked her to catch me if she could."

"I think she's already done that don't you think?"

"Aye, that's true!" nodded Jack.

"Oh no!" cried Sarah.

"What?" asked Jack as Sarah stepped away from the wall. Jack soon saw the clock he had seen earlier. Sarah looked at the closed doors in despair.

"We're back at the beginning! I've just went around in a circle!" Jack stepped towards the clock and said,

"Well that's unfortunate."

"Yeah. Maybe we could go around again? After all, this place does keep changing. One minute you're facing a dead end and then the dead ends behind you." said Sarah as Jack began to lean against the corridor wall neck to the clock. But he quickly fell through. When he saw the two openings to the right and to the left of him, he said,

"Sarah?" Sarah turned and gasped when she saw Jack through the hidden opening.

"I don't believe it! It was here the whole time!"

"Well you must give her points for originality!" said Jack.

Jack got up and started down towards the left. Sarah soon followed behind him. When they came out of the corridor, the elaborate and wondrous maze one expects a Labyrinth to be with twists, turns, zigzags and whatnot stood before them. The castle loomed over the horizon. Sarah heard Ludo howl.

"Ludo!" she cried. Jack took her hand and said,

"Come on!" He led her through what seemed to be the closest path to the castle. Suddenly, he spotted a dead end up ahead. He grinned wickedly.

"This way!" he said. He allowed her to go first into the dead end before Sarah said,

"But Jack, this is just a dead end!"

"No Luv I believe that is the dead end behind you!" Jack's muffled voice said. Sarah turned and saw a block of wall all around her.

"Jack? What have you done?"

"TA LUV! AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FREE ADVICE!" he shouted through the wall.

"Oh! Jack you tricked me!"

"PIRATE!" Jack called over his shoulder. Sarah huffed before turning around desperate to find a way out. Jack continued on towards the humming happily to himself before he heard someone clapping. He looked around the corner and saw Jezebel, now in a light purple suit, clapping slowly. She folded her hands and said,

"Nice work, Captain. I thought for a moment you really were trying to help her!"

"Well I'm not as big a fool as you'd like to think!" said Jack.

"Now what got that idea in your pretty head, Captain?" she smiled innocently.

"Are you flirting with me?" asked Jack. Jezebel sashayed over to him and used a finger to draw imaginary lines on his chest.

"What would you do if I were?" she asked batting her eyelashes at him a bit. He gulped.

"Depends on why you would be flirting with me?" She shrugged,

"It's not every day a girl hears that a big, tall, handsome rogue pirate captain finds her attractive. Is it?" She walked pass his shoulder, allowing him a whiff of her hair which he thought was heavenly before gulping again and saying,

"So um...why did Jareth bring Sarah here last time?"

"What?"

"You told me Faes can only give their hearts away to the first person they kiss. So why would Jareth drag a teenage girl to the Underground to beg for her love if he didn't love her first? But if he loved her first, that meant they kissed before. But Sarah says she didn't kiss him, so..." Jezebel interrupted Jack by placing and finger on his lips.

"You think too much Jack. Just, make sure they don't solve the Labyrinth. Hmm?' Then she turned and began to fad away,

"But how...?"

"Jareth is coming your way right now." echoed Jezebel's voice. Jack shrugged and decided to wait. But then he placed his fingertips over his lips remembering how close he just was to the girl and smiled.

_&&&_

"What was that about?" asked Hoggle with his long hands on his hips as Jezebel came back into the throne room.

"What was what about?" asked Jezebel as she flopped into the throne.

"That flirting with the Captain?" asked Hoggle. Jezebel smiled.

"Captain Sparrow is a notorious woman chaser. I figure part of his punishment is tempt him with a (if I do say so myself) beautiful woman until he can no longer stand it and then, shoot him down cold!"

"A little harsh don't you think?" asked Hoggle raising an eyebrow.

"Well, so was what he said about me!" said Jezebel.

"Just don't get carried away Jezzy. For three good reasons."

"Oh?" said Jezebel amused.

"Yeah. One, you might cast yourself as a villain and end up like Jareth, two, you might hate yourself for it 'cause you just ain't that type of girl, and three, if you don't watch it, you might end up falling for him for real!" said Hoggle counting off on his fingers. Jezebel snorted,

"Yeah right! Like I'd fall for a pompous, arrogant, lying rat like him? I'm just looking forward to the second when I look deep into those big brown adorable puppy dog eyes of his and tell him off for good!"

"You just said he had big brown adorable puppy dog eyes." pointed out Hoggle. Jezebel's smiled faded.

"I did?"

"Uh-huh! You sure you're not attracted to him?" asked Hoggle.

"Of course not! Now, don't you have something to weed?" asked Jezebel. Hoggle nodded and walked out the throne room leaving Jezebel alone to think,

'Attracted? Yeah right. I've noticed he's handsome, but I'm not attracted to him...am I?'


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jareth was frustrated. He had stepped into the Labyrinth thinking it would be a piece of cake. That Jezebel had underestimated him. In truth, he had underestimated Jezebel. After going around in circles, getting chased by his own guards, and then seeming to go nowhere near the castle, Jareth had to admit that Jezebel had allowed him to think this was going to be easy. But it was proving rather difficult. After realizing he had just gone in yet another circle, he cursed himself for not studying the patterns of the Labyrinth's pathways when he was younger, and decided to step into this little clearing within the Labyrinth. And a curious sight met his eyes. A tall man with long dark brown hair way past his shoulders braided and woven into beads and dreadlocks tied back with a red bandanna and a leather tricorn. His clothes were faded and homespun and his tan leather boots flopped down nearly to his feet. Around his slim waist was a faded red and white striped sash with a pistol tucked into it alongside his sheath that held an old cutlass. The man was as tanned as Jareth was fair skinned. Jareth quirked an eyebrow when he saw the man's dark brown eyes lined with kohl and his crooked lopsided golden grin.

"Finally! I've been stuck here for ages!" lied Jack. Jareth folded his arms.

"Really?"

"Aye! Turned into a dead end all around it did!" slurred the man as through drunk. The man with limp wrists sashayed over to Jareth and flopped an arm around his shoulder.

"Listen mate. What say we get out of this god forsaken spot aye?" said Jack. Jareth eyed him and said,

"Certainly Mr...?" questioned Jareth. Jack beamed with hung over pride.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please!" said Jack. Jareth nodded and said,

"Jareth. Pleasure to meet you." Then he shook Jack's arm off and headed out the other exit. Surprised he wasn't there anymore, Jack looked around before sloppingly running after him. As they weaved throughout the Labyrinth, Jack rambled on,

"So you be Jezzy's brother aye? Bet you're steamed she'd pulled one over on you, aye? Say what say we team up and pull one over on her? I'm sure you'd like to get back to your throne and your crown and your scepter and your kingly robes. And of course you'll be wanting to get back to your girl the queen I wager!" Jareth endured Jack elbowing him and giving him a suggestive wink.

"I have no wife." said Jareth tensely.

"Ah! So a little maid upstairs aye?" questioned Jack. Jareth smirked,

"Unless I have become attracted to Goblins in the last five minutes, then no." Jack looked puzzled.

"Well if you got no girls around here sides your lovely sister, then how do ye expect to produce an heir apparent?" asked Jack.

"Faes can live for thousands of years. So I'm not dying of old age anytime soon." said Jareth turning around a corner. Jack shrugged,

"That's good. So then I take it you shall be wanting to join up with me to beat the Labyrinth, then?" Jareth stopped.

"First of all, the only way Jezebel will let me have my kingdom back, is if I beat the two opponents and that includes you. Second, you might as well drop the drunken fool act..." Jack's face fell with this. "...For I already know you are neither drunk nor a fool. Though I do have to admit. If Jezebel hadn't already told me about you, I might have bought your charade top dollar." Jack straighten up and said in a very sober voice,

"Well I guess there's no pulling the wool over your eyes then aye?"

"No I don't think so. I'm sorry I spoiled your attempt to trick me." said Jareth smiling sarcastically. Jack shook his head.

"Ah don't give it another thought, Savvy?...Why, I was just saying to MISS SARAH..." emphasized Jack. Now it was Jareth's turn to have his face fall.

"What?"

"Miss Sarah Williams. Lovely woman. Little naive, little too trusting, but she more than makes up for it with that bum of hers!" joked Jack. Jareth grabbed a surprised Jack by the shirt collar and growled,

"If you so much as laid a HAND on her!" Jack held up his hands,

"Steady Mate! All I did was leave her pretty face in a dead end, Savvy?" Jareth looked within himself and growled,

"Jezebel! I'm going to kill you!" Then he shook Jack and said,

"Where is she?"

"I wouldn't be doing that Mate. Less you want a bit of me blade...Savvy?" growled Jack in return. Matching his dangerous tone, Jareth said,

"Where?" Jack shot daggers at Jareth before replying coolly,

"Around the place you found me." Jareth released Jack and went back the way he came.

"Your Majesty!" called Jack. Jareth spun to face him.

"Yes?" Jack grinned,

"That wool ain't to hot now is it?" Fuming Jareth didn't honor Jack with a response before continuing on his way, praying that the Labyrinth hadn't changed that much within the last few minutes. Jack brushed his hands as if taking dust off and proceeded to continue through the Labyrinth.

Meanwhile, watching the scene through a crystal, Jezebel and the goblins grinned wildly.

"By Merlin, he did it! He picked up on me using Sarah to get to Jareth!" laughed Jezebel watching the pirate in awe. The goblins laughed.

"That'll show 'em!" yelled a goblin with a long, wart covered nose.

"Who's the big king now?" laughed another.

"Remember guys, we're only PRETENDING I took over ok?" reminded Jezebel. The goblins groaned.

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Sure! Sure!"

"Right!"

"Sarah safe?" questioned Ludo. Jezebel reached up from her seat on Jareth's throne and scratched the beast's ears.

"Oh course! But I'll send the Tunnelers to fetch her alright?" she said as Ludo nodded in agreement.

"But Highness! I thought you wanted Jareth to have contact with Milady Sarah?" asked Sir Didymus.

"I do. But as our dashing pirate captain would say, "We must wait for the opportune moment!" said Jezebel using a spell to speak in Jack's voice. The goblins laughed again. Jezebel joined their laughter before saying,

"Meanwhile, why don't we have ourselves a little party?" asked Jezebel playfully. The goblins nodded excitingly. For there are two things a goblin loves to do. Cause mischief and throw parties. Suddenly music filled the room and Jezebel stood up, dancing around the room and singing with the goblins singing along.

_'Hey!_

Ready for the big time, ready for the small  
Whatever's comin' to me, I'll be ready for it all  
Sometimes it ain't easy, sometimes its not polite  
Some days I don't get it, some days I get it right

Meanwhile, Jareth frantically searched the Labyrinth for Sarah, calling out her name.

_  
It's in my heart, it's in my head  
That's what I said  
_

Jezebel began to dance around with the goblins.

_  
Hey Boys are you ready for the shock  
I'm living proof, that girls can rock  
Spread the news around every single block  
Hey boys, the girl can rock_

Standin' in the spotlight workin' up a sweat

_  
Givin' all I got and lovin' what I get  
I can't hold back what i feel inside  
and if i make you nervous, you better stop aside  
_

Jack looked around at the sky as he heard the music coming from the castle.

"Well, at least someone is having a good time!" he said.

_  
It's in my heart, it's in my head  
That's what I said_

Jezebel began to lift the goblins into the air by magic exciting them greatly.__

Hey Boys are you ready for the shock  
I'm living proof, that girls can rock  
Spread the news around every single block  
Hey boys, the girl can rock

The girl can rock  
Don't say maybe or call me 'baby'  
I ain't crazy at aaaallllllll! Ah--ha--aaalll!

Sarah had sat down ready to give up. She had screamed for help and no one came. She was about to tear up again, when she heard a low scraping sound. Coming from out of the ground, was a little goblin that could have been mistaken for a little man if not for his squashed up face and protruding nose. The bald creature said,

"Well? Do you want how of here? Or do you want to wait for a flying aardvark?"

"How?" Sarah questioned. The goblin put his fingers up to his teeth and whistled. Soon the stone tiles of the Labyrinth floor began to scrape away leaving a hole big enough for Sarah to climb down into. Sarah laughed as the little creature led her below.__

It's in my heart, it's in my head  
That's what I said

Hey Boys are you ready for the shock 

Jezebel began to produce lighting bolts out of her hands, frying the goblins tails._  
I'm living proof, that girls can rock  
Spread the new around every single block  
Hey boys, the girl can rock_

I'm gonna live it up  
I'll never give it up  
I'm gonna spread the news around the block  
It ain't no shock...the girl can rock  


_I'm gonna live it up  
I'll never give it up  
I'm gonna spread the news around the block  
It ain't no shock...the girl can rock _

_I'm gonna live it up  
I'll never give it up  
I'm gonna spread the news around the block  
It ain't no shock...the girl can rock  
_

_Yeah, Rock!' _Finished Jezebel as the Goblins began to laugh uproariously. She looked at the clock and said to herself,

"Sigh! Enjoy it while you can Jez. Because in ten hours and four minutes, Jareth will either be toasting you for a jest well played, or dipping you headfirst in the Bog of Eternal Stench!"

_&&&_

Sarah soon found herself in a little underground city bright with electric lights and curious little goblins. The ceiling was very high so Sarah found no need to crotch anymore. At this point she felt like Godzilla attacking Tokyo with everyone pointing at her and whispering or as in the more nervous types, screaming.

"Who are all of you?" asked Sarah in wonder. The little man guiding her answered,

"We are the Tunnelers. We built the Oubliettes, and we make sure the Labyrinth walls move around properly."

"How far am I in the Labyrinth?" asked Sarah.

"Ah, you ain't even halfway yet!" said the little man. Just then, a bunch of goblin men drove past them in a tinker toy wagon and deposited little newspapers on the ground. As she passed, Sarah read,

"'SHE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNS TO THE LABYRINTH'...Is that talking about me?" she asked.

"Aye, news travels fast around this place!" said the little man. Sarah scoffed,

"Let me guess. Jareth's ego didn't want anyone to remind him of who beat him?"

"No his broken heart did." replied the goblin man. Sarah was surprised at this but she didn't say anything. Finally, they reached the edge of the city and came to a ladder her size.

"Here you are then! This leads up into the Oubliette! Just follow it awhile until you find another ladder." said the little man. Sarah smiled down at him.

"Thank you all! I'm sorry if I've caused any disturbance." she said politely. The man waved her off.

"Think nothing of it!"

"I didn't catch your name?" asked Sarah.

"Thaddeus!" said the man.

"Thanks Thaddeus. Goodbye!" said Sarah waving to everyone as she began to climb. She slipped once causing all below to scream.

"Sorry!"

"That's ok!" called someone. She began to climb again and soon found herself in the tunnels of the Oubliette, the Labyrinths Underground maze system. She gulped at the darkness, and then proceeded onward whispering to herself,

"Nothing is what it seems, nothing is what it seems..."

_&&&_

Jareth walked in despair. He was lost again. And now Sarah was back in his life! How dare Jezebel! Taunting him like this! When he got his powers back...wait. Did he ever try out his powers to see if they really were gone? He had felt a little drained, but he blamed it on stress. Well, no time like the present. He tried to produce a crystal. Nothing. He tried again. Then he concentrated on turning into an owl. Still nothing. He sighed in frustration.

"You know, they say if you keep making faces, it'll freeze that way!" said a familiar voice. Jareth opened his eyes and saw Marin, still in blue and grinning wickedly.

"You!" said Jareth.

"Hello, Jareth. I hope you are feeling well?" joked Marin. Jareth took on a regal tone.

"It's 'Your Majesty' and I've had better days!" he said folding his arms. Marin said,

"Awww, poor Jareth. For the first time in his life he isn't getting what he wants...No wait! I forgot! This would be the second time! The first would be with that girl! What was her name again?"

"So I take it you are either taking advantage of my sister not knowing I banished you for treason, or you are working with her!" said Jareth.

"Well if I were working with her that would explain how one Fae took the throne from the almighty Goblin King." said Marin.

"But Jezebel would never let a traitor like you live let alone come into the kingdom. So I'm inclined to the latter." reasoned Jareth. Marin circled Jareth.

"So...the big bad Goblin King is finally taken down a peg. And how's that working out?" asked Marin.

"Oh you know. I find the whole situation humorous actually." said Jareth dryly.

"I imagine so! First your title and your powers are taken by your baby sister, you get lost and chased around in YOUR OWN Labyrinth, you got tricked by a pirate, and the love of your life, who happens to hate your guts, is back competing against you! That must be fun!" said Marin showing off his sharp teeth.

"And you, a spoiled nobody Fae, who has been trying to copy me in manner, dress, and most recently, position all for your fragile ego since the day we met is here, possibly taking advantage of the situation for your own gain. My day just keeps getting better and better!" said Jareth sarcastically. Seeing Marin fumed, he was satisfied when the Fae disappeared and turn once more into a blue jay, the thief amongst birds. Jareth kept walking until he saw a rather large urn in the middle of the path. Taking off the lid, he figured he could try to reach Sarah from the Oubliette. Maybe the Tunnelers could help him. He jumped up onto the urns pedestal and climbed into the dark opening and disappeared down the ladder.

_&&&_

Jack was still walking along the Labyrinth making excellent time, when he came to a fork in the road. Should he go left or right? He decided to just turn back, but found a dead end behind him.

"Cripes! Now what?" he asked himself.

"Now ye answer our riddle, and we'll tell ye the way to go!" Jack spun around to the voice and found the oddest pair of sentry he had ever seen. They reminded him of the face cards in a card game. A head coming out each end, with a flat shield guarding them. He thought it funny that their were feet sticking out here and there. And they had the face of dogs but the eyes of men. The blue guard said,

"Good day." Jack took on his drunk routine.

"Good day gentlemen! May I ask why two...er...four... such fine and upstanding gentlemen as yourselves did not merit an invitation to the little party I heard from the castle?" he asked gesturing to all four heads.

"We have to guard the way to the castle!" said the blue.

"It's in the rules!" said the red.

"It's a fine goal, to be sure, but it seems to me that the sooner ye just let me pass, the sooner you four, er two , can get to that party, Savvy?"

"We can't let ya past without answering the riddle!" protested one of the heads on the bottom. Jack crotched down to their eye level and turned his head upside down a bit.

"All right, then. Let's have it!" The bottom heads looked to each other.

"Uh...we don't know it!" said the red.

"But they do!" said the blue looking up. Jack straightened up and pretended he did it far to quickly. Then he said,

"Right then! Come, come! I haven't all day!"

"Well! If you're going to be like that then I say we don't tell ya!" said the blue head on top as the rest broke out into laughter and snickers. Jezebel's taunting voice echoed in Jack's memory,

_'Where I come from, a lot of eyes would laugh at you.'_ He said,

"Apologies. Please continue." The Red and the Blue eyed him and then each other before the head in red said,

"Alright." Jack held up his hands like in prayer in gratitude. The Red cleared his throat.

"Listen mortal if ye may! For a wrong answer leads to death this day!"

"Ooooo!" said the other three as Jack eyed them all curiously.

"Many things can create one. It can be of any shape or size. It is created for various reasons, and it can shrink or grow with time. What is it?" continued the Head. Jack put a finger up to his chin and thought. The sentries laughed and whispered to each other,

"He'll never get it!" Meanwhile, Jezebel and the goblins watched the scene from the crystal.

"They are in on it right?" she asked. Hoggle drooped,

"Doohh! I knew we forgot something!" Jezebel sat up and said,

"Uh oh!"

"You can keep him safe, yes?" asked Didymus.

"Without the Sentries in on the plan, I have no control over that part of the Labyrinth!" said Jezebel shaking her head no and worryingly looking towards the image of Jack.

Then Jack snapped his fingers and pointed at them.

"A hole!" he exclaimed.

"Then go through one!" said the guards laughing. Just then, a hole began to slowly open up at Jack's feet. He stepped away and luckily it stopped. Jack glared at them and said,

"Nice try!" Then the wall behind him began to slide forward. He sidestepped the wall as it covered the hole fairly quickly with a loud slam. The guards laughed as they disappeared,

"Don't worry! You'll fall yet!" Jack walked towards them, but soon the wall behind and to his right slid to connect with the opposite wall. Jack began to run towards the corridor on the left, but that was soon cut off by a wall of stone.

"RUN JACK!" yelled Jezebel to the crystal. Jack ran down the other corridor looking back only to find wall after wall closing up behind him from the left, the right, the ground, and both sides. Jack looked up ahead and saw a dead end. But it shimmered a different shade of gold in the sunlight. His instinct told him to go for it. He jumped and went straight through the wall. It shimmered again and became solid leaving the final section of wall to slam behind it.

"He made it!" squealed Jezebel happily hugging a goblin. Hoggle put his hands on his hips.

"I thought you didn't like him?" She straightened up and said,

"I don't! But...what fun would it be if...someone got hurt?"

"Yeah right!" said Hoggle as Jezebel waved him off watching Jack intently as he stood up and brushed himself off. He looked up to the sky and said,

"Is that all you got Jezebel?"

"He thinks I did it?" asked Jezebel fairly disappointed.

"Well, Highness! What did you expect? You are his enemy!" said Didymus as Jezebel reluctantly nodded. Then she watched in horror as Jack disappeared down into a hole.

"WHHHOOOOAAAAAHHHH!" yelled Jack as he fell down. But soon, multiple blue pairs of hands came out of the wall and caught him. He struggled for a minute and yelled,

"HHHHHEEELLLLPPP!"

"What do you mean 'help'? We are helping!" said the hands forming a face next to Jack. He struggled and looked at the hands around him in confusion.

"What the blazes are you?" he asked.

"We're Helping Hands!" said another hand-face.

"Well you're doing more hurting than helping, mates, Savvy?" Jack said. Another face formed to say,

"Would you like us to let go?" They released him as he yelled,

"NO, NO, NO! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" They caught him again. A face resembling an old man said,

"Well which way? Up? Down? Sideways?"

"Which way?" said Jack looking all around.

"You heard the hand!" said another voice as many hands not holding Jack began to point in every which way.

"Well, since I came from up, that would be the most logical place to go!" concluded Jack.

"You heard him lads! Up it is!" said one laughing voice as the rest roughly pushed Jack up in a chorus of,

"UP! UP! UP!" But instead of warm daylight, Jack found himself in a dark cavernous place as he climbed out, he said,

"Aye! This ain't where I came from!"

"Well, you said you wanted to go 'up'. Not to where you came from!" called a voice from below. Jack stood up and brushed himself off. Then noticing his hat was gone, he called back down to the laughing and applauding crowd below,

"I had a hat!" The hat shot up from the hole like a cork as Jack caught it. The manhole cover slammed shut.

"Much obliged!" said Jack to the hole. He looked around the dark room and began to walk when his head connected with stone and he fell to the floor passed out.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Your Highness! Honestly! We didn't know!" pleading the Red sentry.

"Aye! No one tells us anything!" whined the Blue. Jezebel fixed Isaac the scarf around her body as she looked in her full length mirror and said,

"Well, if he is seriously hurt as a result of your shinnanagans, you'll have to deal with me, understand?" They nodded and left her room bowing.

"So let me get this straight. You're going to flirt with this Captain Sparrow and just when he wants you, you crush him right?" asked Danny the fox Stoll from her vanity table. As she adjusted Isaac, she said,

"That's the plan!"

"How brilliant!" said Isaac from where he hung on her.

"Aw who asked you, you dish rag!" insulted Danny.

"Your mother you flea motel!" said Isaac. Danny stuck out his tongue and Isaac stuck what appeared to be a tongue out as well. As she placed her earrings in, she said,

"Now boys, behave yourselves!"

"Jez, seriously though. Just between us. You wouldn't go to all this trouble if the guy wasn't handsome and intelligent would you?" asked Isaac. Jezebel scoffed and said,

"Well!..Well...well?" Hearing her voice end in hesitation, Isaac continued,

"Sweetie, I've known you since I was your mother's scarf. You don't play around with peoples emotions. That's not your style. If you ask me, I think you're scared that you like this guy, and you're trying to keep him away. But you can't help but wonder, 'What if?' What if part of me is trying to tell me that this guy is special? What if I try to charm him?' If that's what you're thinking, you'll never charm him by acting like the women he usually hangs around. You got to make him see you're special too." Jezebel contemplated this and stuttered,

"That's...that's silly! I don't have feelings for him at all! And who says I'm playing with peoples emotions? I'm sure he feels nothing but lust for me. So I'm playing to his body not his heart...if he has one!" Isaac sighed,

"Whatever you say sweetie! And I'll keep quiet during this whole thing!"

"Good. Thank you!" said Jezebel. A moment of silence passed before Danny said,

"I agree with Isaac!" Isaac gasped and Jezebel glared at him and said,

"Traitor!"

_&&&_

Jareth continued on in the Oubliette. Soon he came around to huge craved faces down a hallway. As he passed them, they spoke,

"DON'T GO ON!"

"GO BACK, WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"THIS IS NOT THE WAY!"

"TAKE HEED, AND GO NO FURTHER!"

"BEWARE! BEWARE!"

"SOON IT WILL BE TOO LATE!"

"FOR THE PATH YOU TAKE WILL LEAD TO CERTAIN DESTRUCTION!" Jareth stopped and yelled,

"Shut up!"

"Gees!"

"Soorrry!"

"Just doing my job!" they muttered before Jareth glared at them. Then he saw something on the ground ahead of him. He picked it up and recognized it as the beggar's costume he used to surprise Sarah and Hoggle during her first visit here. He laughed to himself bitter sweetly. He remembered her apparent hate for him with only the slightest hint of desire. But now he had ruined everything. When she saw him again, she would never want anything to do with him. But oh, how he just wanted one more moment with her. He began to sing softly and slowly to himself,

'_When the night won't fall and the sun wont rise  
And you see the best as you close your eyes  
When you reach the top as you bottom out  
But you understand what it's all about_

Nothing's ever what it seems  
In your life or in your dreams  
It don't make sense, what can you do  
So I won't try makin' sense of you  
  
_Love just is... whatever it may be  
Love just is... you and me  
Nothing less and nothing more  
I don't know what I love you for... love just is_

He stood up, dropped the costume back on the ground, and continued,

_  
When you ask to stay and disappear  
It seems you're gone but you're really here  
When every move seems out of place  
But every kiss is filled with grace_

Some things never get defined  
In your heart or in your mind  
It don't make sense, what can you do  
So I won't try makin sense of you

In another part of the Oubliette, Sarah slowed down, because she heard singing,

"Jareth?" she whispered.

_Love just is... whatever it may be  
Love just is... you and me  
Nothing less and nothing more  
I don't know what I love you for... love just is_

_Don't ever ask me for reasons  
I can't get to you  
Don't ever ask me for reasons  
Why I live for you... I just do_

_When you ask to stay and disappear  
It seems you're gone but you're really here  
When every move seems out of place  
But every kiss is filled with grace_

_Love just is... whatever it may be  
Love just is... you and me  
Nothing less and nothing more  
I don't know what I love you for... love just is'_

As he finished the slow, sad, sweet song, he turned a corner and came face to face with Sarah. Shocked, he just stood there looking at her, taking in how she had changed. Gone was the round face of youth and in it's place the slim face of a young woman. She was taller, and curvier and looked more beautiful to him than any sunset. As shocked, thrilled, and scared as he, she said,

"What are you doing here?" He gulped and smirked.

"Oh you know. Just getting lost in my own Labyrinth. And yourself?" he asked. She trembled. He still had that same cultured, British sounding voice that sent chills up her spine. It excited her and terrified her all at the same time.

"About the same." she said looking down. What do you say to the man who ruined happily ever after for you forever? She stole a peek at him and saw him smiling, not in an condescending way like she was used to. But in a kind, and hopeful way. It was a smile that made his slight crow's feet more pronounced. It went all the way up to his ears. Then she did a double take.

"You've cut your hair!" she exclaimed. He combed a hand through his hair as if trying to feel his long locks again,

"No, that was my dear sister." he said sarcastically.

"I...I like it. I never noticed you had pointy ears before." she said. He fingered the slight point and said,

"Well, the Fae are related to Elves so it only makes sense."

"Yes, I suppose." she nodded.

"Sarah...I want to apologize." said Jareth. Sarah snapped her head up at this.

"What?"

"For all I did to you. I'm sorry." he said.

"For what?" she asked.

"Everything!" he said.

"Say it!" she said.

"Why? You know all that happened so why should I?"

"Because I want to know what you're sorry for!" she said.

"So you're going to make me grovel?" he said his voice rising.

"You made me run the Labyrinth!" she said matching him.

"I gave you every opportunity to turn back before it was too late!" he argued.

"You know I couldn't turn back! I had to save Toby!" she said.

"From what? A fate you gave him?" he asked.

"Oh! At least I wasn't beaten by a mortal girl!" she said.

"Now that's hitting below the belt!" he said.

"Yeah 'cause you're still an arrogant egotistical dictator!" said Sarah.

"Well you are an naive shrew who can't make up her bloody mind!" he yelled.

"Oh!"

_&&&_

Jack awoke slowly, his head throbbing. He heard something shift in the dark and ready to respond he demanded,

"Who's there?"

"Just little ol' me!" said Jezebel as she stuck a match and lit a candelabra. Jack stood up and saw a round table covered in linen with piles of rich delicious looking food on top, the table set for two. Then his eyes got even wider as he scanned Jezebel. She was in a high necked, long simple white gown that hung off her hips and straight to the floor. Around her chest and neck hung a rainbow colored scarf shimmering in the candlelight. Her hair was slightly pulled back with a piece of black ribbon, and diamond chandeliers hung off her (surprisingly) slightly pointy ears. She looked almost as good enough to eat as the food. She smiled at him.

"Do you like it?" she said as she spun around. When Jack saw the low cut back, his eyes threatened to go out of their sockets.

"Just a little number I picked up in New York City." she said.

"There is no New York City." he stated curiously. She smiled.

"Not yet! Well...at least from where you're from!"

"Ah yes. The whole 'not limited by time' business Sarah was talking about." he said. She pulled out a chair, and sat down saying,

"You must be hungry!"

"Not at all!" he said. He was about to say something else when his stomach growled loudly. She smirked,

"That is your stomach is it not?" Sheepishly, he nodded and said,

"I suppose it tis!" She pulled out the other chair and said patting the seat,

"Come. Sit down...Have something to...nibble on." She said the last part slowly and looked up at him.

"And waste precious time not running the Labyrinth, right?" questioned Jack.

"No! Silly! I just thought a intelligent soul like yourself should keep up his strenght. After all, we want our wits about us, don't we?" she said.

"I must agree with you there. So where are we?" he asked scanning the room.

"This is the Oubliette. You do know what an Oubliette is, don't you Jack?" she said.

"Aye. It's French. Nice place to put people to forget about them, don't you think?" questioned Jack raising his eyebrows.

"Quite. You're so clever Jack. You don't mind I call you Jack, do you?" she said batting her eyelashes. He leaned his hands against the back of the chair and said,

"Stop." Batting them a little more nervously, she said,

"Stop what?"

"This feeble and useless attempt to charm and seduce me. I don't know if you're trying to make me give up, or to lose, or even to get me back for insulting you. But stop this foolish, ridiculous attempt to make me want you." he said.

"I'm only responding to the signals you've been giving off that you're attracted to me!" she said.

"Why would I be attracted to a cold, cruel, manipulative witch hmm?" he said. She shut her eyes at his stinging words. Then she opened them when he continued,

"So if you don't mind, time is short!" She threw her napkin on the table and stood up.

"If you think time is short now, watch this!" She pointed to a corner and he saw the all too familiar clock he had seen throughout the Labyrinth. As she started to twirl her finger, the hands of the clock twirled forward three hours.

"Hey!" protested Jack. He stepped back though, when Jezebel whipped her head back with angry eyes red and threatening to water.

"Are you crying?" asked Jack surprised that he was concerned.

"Of course not! Why would a 'cold, cruel, manipulative witch' cry? I hope you enjoy the next six hours Captain. For I'm letting the Labyrinth do whatever it wants with you!" she said. She then produced a crystal and threw it at him. It carried him with a great force that propelled him through the wall and into the inner tunnels of the Oubliette.

&&&

Sarah and Jareth had stopped arguing a long time ago. They just walked the path together in tense silence. Frustrated, Sarah said,

"Do you have to keep following me?"

"After that pirate tricked you almost leaving you to rot in that dead end? Not likely." he said. Sarah sighed,

"I wonder where he is anyway?"

"He must be almost to the castle by now. By telling me about you, he made me go back and lose precious time."

"Why did you come back for me anyway?" she asked. Jareth stopped her and looked into her eyes.

"I would have thought it obvious. Because I cared for your safety." he stated. She scanned his eyes trying to find the evil Goblin King that had caused her so much grief five years ago only finding instead a caring, cunning individual named Jareth that totally fascinated her. She cleared her throat and said,

"That Captain Sparrow certainly was a clever fellow. I had no idea he was manipulating me until it was too late."

"Hmm. Same here." said Jareth scanning her lips.

"So do you really think he's almost to the castle?" she asked. Just then, Jack burst through the wall and onto the ground.

"Either that or he's stuck in the Oubliette with us!" said Jareth dryly.

"Ow." said Jack from where he lay on the ground. Sarah crossed her arms and said,

"What's the matter Captain? Fall down and go boom?" Pretending to share her laugh for a moment, Jack soon shot glares at her.

"If you two would be soon kind?" he said. Sarah and Jareth looked at each other and sighed. Soon they were helping Jack up to his feet.

"Are you alright?" asked Sarah brushing him off.

"I'll live." stated Jack.

"Good...'cause I'm going to kill you!" said Sarah advancing towards him. Jack stepped back and Jareth held her by her shoulders and said,

"Sarah!"

"Jareth! Don't you see? He's in with your sister! And she sent him to trick us again!" said Sarah struggling in Jareth's arms.

"Then why would she try to catapult him through a stone wall?" he reasoned.

"I think it's safe to say she's done more than 'try' mate!" said Jack rubbing his head.

"What?" asked Sarah.

"I know my sister. She would not send someone through a wall unless he did something incredibly stupid to make her angry. I should know. I learned the hard way when I was about twelve hundred! So the question is Captain, what did you do to get under her skin this time?" asked Jareth.

"Well I called her a 'cruel, cold, manipulative witch'." Jack said sheepishly. Releasing Sarah, Jareth said,

"That's would do it. Jezebel never could stand to be called names."

"If you're not in with Jezebel, then why are you here? Surely it must be for more than stealing her pendant!" asked Sarah.

"I WAS in with Jezebel..." Looking at the glares he received, he continued quickly, "but only a little! She's holding me Pearl hostage unless I beat the Labyrinth and the two of you Savvy? And she also wanted me to keep you from beating the Labyrinth so there you go. But now that I have thoroughly hacked her off, I doubt she'll care if I do that now, Savvy?"

"Who's Pearl?" asked Sarah thinking Pearl to be Jack's lover or something.

"She's my ship. The Black Pearl. The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, Luv. And I didn't spend ten years of me life chasing down me mutinous first mate to get her back for nothing." Seeing Jareth's quirked eyebrow, he added, "Long story."

"Well, I for one am tired of playing Jezebel's game. So I suggest, we team up to beat the Labyrinth. For if we all consent that there is no one to beat us, then Jezebel can't hold over our heads that we didn't now can we?" said Jareth.

"Now hold on mate! What profit would I get for teaming up with the two of you?" asked Jack.

"Your ship is rather un-catch-able I suppose?" question Jareth.

"Nigh un-catch-able, mate. There is reason why she's called the fastest ship in the Caribbean!"

"Help me rescue Sarah's friends, and to regain my powers and my throne, and I'll place a few magic charms on your ship to make sure that she is never caught! Agreed?" stated Jareth. Jack stroked his beard and Sarah was surprised Jareth remembered her friends. Then Jack held out his hand and said,

"We have an accord! Your Majesty!" As Jareth shook it his hand, he looked to Sarah and said,

"Well Sarah. Are you in?" Sarah looked to both of them and said,

"I don't trust either one of you!"

"Peas in a pod, Luv!" said Jack as he still hold Jareth's hand.

"Sarah, my love, what choice do you have?" asked Jareth. Sighing, she placed her hand on top of theirs and said,

"Agreed!" Then she pointed a finger at Jareth and said, "I'm not your love!" As she walked down the corridor, Jack saw Jareth's eyes grow sad at that statement before their mask came back and he continued after Sarah.

'Sort of looked like Jezebel for a second there after I told her she was a witch. I wonder if I hurt her more than she let on? Wait...why do I bloody care?' thought Jack. Sarah stopped and her eyes grew wide in recognition of a sound from the past.

"Jareth?" she called. Jareth joined her and listened as well. Jack came up to them and said,

"What's that noise?" Suddenly, a metallic image flashed down the long hall corridor.

"The cleaners!" yelled Jareth backing up.

"The what?" asked Jack as Sarah pushed him and said,

"JUST RUN!" They broke into a run and Jack looked over his shoulder to see a large, spinning rapidly approaching device with several sharp, rusty blades protruding at them. He picked up speed as Sarah yelled,

"It's faster than I remembered!"

"The goblins like to tinker with everything to try to make things go faster!" yelled Jareth back. Jack ran past them yelling,

"Why don't we do less talking and more running, Savvy?" But soon they came to a locked door.

"Oh no!" yelled Sarah looking back as Jack shook the doors and Jareth tried his shoulder against it. The cleaners coming closer, Jareth pointing to another closed doorway to the right and said,

"Let's try that one!"

"But it's locked!" yelled Sarah eyeing the lock. Jack pushed Sarah behind him towards Jareth and pulled out his pistol yelling,

"Stand back!" He cocked the trigger and shot the lock off. Then he kicked the door in and dived in. Jareth pulled Sarah in with him just as the cleaners passed by, the goblins controlling the spinning motion of the blades as they went up and down in time. The three of them lay on the kicked in door side by side. They looked up over their shoulders at the cleaners as they passed.

"Well, that was a close shave." said Jack. Jareth and Sarah turned their heads to glare at him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jack, Sarah, and Jareth looked up the ladder that led to honestly, no where and everywhere.

"Isn't this the same ladder Hoggle led me to?" she asked.

"Probably. One thing about the Labyrinth. It always changes paths, but it's still the same." said Jareth placing a hand on a rung of the ladder.

"Sounds like someone I know." said Sarah casually looking up as Jareth gave her a look.

"Can we please just get out of here before your charming sister decides to pull something else? Like flood this place maybe?" said Jack stepping forward to the ladder. But Jareth held Jack from going up by saying,

"Ladies first."

"Of course! Where are me manners? Milady?" said Jack mockingly gesturing a hand towards the ladder and bowing slightly.

"Thank you Captain. Majesty." she said coolly before climbing up. Jack grinned devilishly as he watched her go up. He looked to Jareth and whispered,

"After all, mate. How else can I get away with looking at her bum, Savvy?" As he began to climb up, Jareth held him by the shoulder and said,

"I'm afraid you'll have to settle for looking at my bum, 'Savvy'?" Then he gave Jack a little shove before climbing up the ladder himself. Jack only grinned,

"Want the view all to yourself, Majesty?" Jareth looked down at him and shot a glare before continuing on. Jack only laughed to himself before climbing up himself.

"So do you think this will lead to where me and Hoggle came out in the Labyrinth?" called Sarah down to Jareth. But before he could answer her, Jack interrupted,

"Not if Her Royal Highness has anything to say about it, I wager!"

"You know, Captain Sparrow. My sister may at the moment be guilty of treason and total disregard for others, but she is still my sister. And she has been known to be quite a pleasant person." said Jareth.

"Yeah right!" said Jack.

"Don't be so quick to cast the villain, Captain." said Jareth. This caused Jack and Sarah both to pause but for two different reasons.

"Something wrong?" asked Jareth to Sarah. She shook her head and continued on before saying,

"You know, Jack. I have to agree with Jareth. When I met Jezebel, she did seem pleasant enough. Except for the holding my friends captive thing."

"All I know mates, is that Jezebel has done nothing but manipulate, lie, play with my emotions and laugh in my face since the day we met!" said Jack as he climbed.

"Yeah but you probably asked for it." stated Jareth ahead of him.

"How?"

"Tell me. Had you ever expected Jezebel to be what I think to be her usually, sweet, generous annoyingly all knowing self?" asked Jareth.

"No!" said Jack.

"Well, there you go. You didn't give her a chance to prove she could be a nice person. If fact, if you had, we might never have been in this mess." said Jareth.

"Sure, blame everything on the victim, as usual!" said Sarah bitterly.

"Now what's that suppose to mean?" asked Jareth crossly as Jack rolled his eyes. He just continued to climb up after them as they argued back and forth. Finally, they came to the top and to Jack's surprise, they climbed out of a large clay urn in a well kept green shrubbery part of the Labyrinth maze.. Looking under the pedestal, noticing it appeared to have nothing under it, Jack furrowed his brows in confusion as Sarah and Jareth walked out of the clearing still arguing. He walked after them, but soon, paused when he heard the sound of someone crying. He walked up to the sound and looked through an opening very carefully. In the center of various statues was an old man goblin with a live bird hat, resplended in a long white beard fast asleep with his chin in his hand as he sat in a stone chair of carved books. Apparently he had been reading a story to the small and various goblin children all around the clearing when he fell asleep. He looked to the corner opposite the old man and was in shock. The goblin children now gathered around Jezebel, dressed once again in her red pantsuit, comforting her as she sobbed miserably. Jack reluctantly felt his heart wretch.

'Why the devil do I care if she cries? She's my enemy! What do I care she looks completely pitiful as she sits there? I don't! So...why do I feel like such a mangy cad?' he thought. Then he heard,

"Don't cry Princess. It'll be alright!" said a wee girl goblin patting her hand. Jezebel sniffed,

"Hoggle was right! On all three counts! I cast myself as the villain and ended up like Jareth, I do hate myself for how cruel I've been acting, and...well I can't remember the third. But Captain Sparrow didn't deserve all that I put him through! He's right. I'm nothing but an ugly, old witch! A spoiled princess brat, a...a...well I can't remember what else he called me. I'm horrible!" As she buried her eyes in her hands, the goblin children patted her and silently comforted her some more before the little goblin girl spoke again,

"Please don't cry anymore, Princess! It makes me awfully sad!" When the goblin began to tear up and sniff, Jezebel wiped her eyes and said,

"Oh no! No! Don't cry! I've been selfish again haven't I? Don't cry! Look! I'm not crying anymore. I'll tell you what. Let's sing a song. Something to make us all feel better, hmm?" The goblin children looked at each other skeptically until one said,

"Which one?" Jezebel smiled a radiant, genuine smile that made the corners of Jack's month turn upward as well. He liked that smile. Despite his better judgment, he liked that beautiful smile. Then he heard music flow all around him. Jezebel began to sing,

_You remind me of the babe'_

"What babe?" asked one goblin boy. _'babe with the power'_

"What power_?" 'power of voodoo'_

"Who do?" _'you do'_

"Do what?" _'remind me of the babe!'_

_I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could cry_ Jezebel began to dance around the goblins._  
What could I do?  
My baby's love had gone  
And left my baby blue  
Nobody knew!_

What kind of magic spell to use?

"Slime and snails!" joined the goblins.  
"Or puppy dogs' tails  
Thunder or lightning"  
_Then baby said  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance) _Jack leaned against the wall in amazement. This was not the same woman. It couldn't be. He liked this woman.

_Put that baby spell on me  
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump) _She lifted the goblins children into the air, much to their delight._  
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump)  
Put that magic jump on me  
Slap that baby, make him free!_

I saw my baby, trying hard as babe could try  
What could i do?  
My baby's fun had gone  
And left my baby blue  
Nobody knew!

What kind of magic spell to use  
Slime and snails  
Or puppy dog's tails  
Thunder or lightning  
Then baby said  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Put that baby spell on me  
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump)  
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump)  
Put that magic jump on me  
Slap that baby, make him free  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump)

_  
Jump magic, jump (jump magic, jump)  
Put that baby spell on me (ooh)_

Slap that slap that baby make him free  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Dance magic, dance (dance magic, dance)  
Dance magic, dan...' "Ahh!" cried Jezebel almost bumping into Jack. All the goblin crashed onto the ground in a loud thud waking up the old man.

"Er...What?"

"Don't worry! You didn't miss much!" said the man's hat in a Spanish accent. As the little goblins groaned and moaned, Jezebel stood opened mouthed at the grinning pirate who had his arms folded in front of her. In compete wonder he said,

"I must admit. I like this side of you far better!" Taking on her regal air, she said,

"Oh?"

"Yeah, for a minute there, I was seeing a kind, caring, fun loving girl and not some spoiled brat."

"Well, they're just kids. Once they get older, they'll know I do not as a rule fraternize with Goblins!" she said raising her chin up. He stepped notoriously close as he said,

"Highness, you are a terrible lair when surprised."

"The game isn't over Captain. And I believe you have a little less than six hours left?" she reminded him coolly.

"So I do. After all, I made an accord with your brother to help him get his kingdom back." said Jack. Wide eyed, she said,

"What?"

"Good afternoon, Princess!" said Jack tipping his hat and walking away leaving her.

"Hey!" she called running after him.

"In my Labyrinth, you do not walk away!" she said. He looked back at her and then crept towards her like a jungle cat.

"I have a feeling that it's not really your Labyrinth, Milady." he said.

"Because you're going to help Jareth get it back from his ugly witch sister?" she asked sarcastically. He leaned over and whispered in her ear,

"I've never thought you ugly, Luv." Chills went down Jezebel's spine and her legs turned to jelly by the time Jack walked away. She adjusted her gloves and then felt something metallic touch her wrist. She pulled out of her right glove, her pendant, still sparkling and shimmering as always. She smiled. He returned it. But why? Placing it around her neck, she turned to go the other way, when Marin blocked her path.

"Ahh! Marin! It's only you! Don't do that!" she said slapping his shoulder. He laughed,

"You like him don't you?"

"Who?" she asked.

"That pirate." said Marin.

"Him! No! No! No!" she protested.

"He's right. You are a terrible liar when surprised." grinned Marin. Jezebel shrugged,

"Well who is?"

"So Jareth has reunited with the mortal Sarah, you appear to be getting back at that Sparrow character for his insults, and you've gotten a taste of the crown. How do you feel?" asked Marin. Jezebel sighed,

"Exhausted! I can't wait till this day is over!"

"So what are you going to do if Jareth doesn't make it to the castle before thirteen hours?" he asked.

"Tell him the truth before the Labyrinth starts to go wild." she shrugged.

"Ah! That's right, for if the king does not return to his duties before thirteen hours is up, then the Labyrinth will shake and go into self destruct mode, right?" asked Marin.

"That's right!"

"Hmm? That's interesting. In fact, even now it would be fairly simple to have someone steal the Labyrinth right now wouldn't it?" he asked circling her. Jezebel said suspiciously,

"Yeah, what are you trying to get at Marin?" He grinned making Jezebel feel uneasy.

"Did Jareth mention me when you got back?" he asked her.

"No...he spoke rarely. Why?" she asked.

"I'm afraid my dear I haven't been honest with you. For you see, before the whole 'Sarah' incident, Jareth had me banned for treason!" he said.

"What!" yelled Jezebel.

"All I did was try to take what I was born for. My rightful place as king!" said Marin cheerfully.

"Oh! And I suppose you came here wanting me to be your Queen?" asked Jezebel bitterly.

"Well it would be nice to have a Fae Queen. Especially considering you are the last one left in the kingdom." said Marin advancing towards her. As she backed up she said,

"What do you mean? The Fae have been living in the outer provinces of the kingdom since my parents died, even Jareth sent me to live Aboveground with our Aunt Minerva!"

"Ah yes! Dear old crazy Aunt Minerva! Running away from home to live with the mortals. So I guess next to you, she's the only other Fae woman of the Kingdom!" he said.

"What have you done to the Fae?" demanded Jezebel.

"I've turned the Fae into my own personal armies of Gurnocks. Now they serve me willingly and faithfully. A little stupid, but loyal." said Marin as Jezebel pushed past him and said,

"I hereby place you under arrest, Marin! By my authority as a Goblin Princess!" Marin met her strong piercing gaze and went on,

"This is your last chance to consent to being my Queen. If you refuse, part of the spell that I placed on the Labyrinth to take control will come over you. You will lose your powers and eventually fall into an eternal sleep. Do you want that?"

"I'd rather sleep for all eternity than share my bed with you!" she snapped. He stepped forward,

"And I suppose you'd rather share it with that pirate, hmm?" She turned to go when she felt something small drain out of her painfully.

"Ahh!" she cried clutching her chest.

"I should warn you, you'll lose your powers slowly and rather painfully. So you'd better get back to the castle before you either can't become a bird, or my Gurnocks take it over. Whatever comes first!" he joked. She glared at him before changing into a hawk and flying quickly towards the castle leaving Marin to laugh evilly behind her.

When she flew over the Goblin City, she saw the Gurnocks, running all over, trying to break into the castle. She flew into one of the castles many windows and changed back. She looked out the window and saw the former Fae race trying to break down the door. She raced down to the grand entryway, where she saw the goblins, Ludo, Sir Didymus and Hoggle all leaning up against the door trying to keep the Gurnocks out.

"Highness! We are under attack!" cried Didymus. Producing a crystal, she waved it over her hand saying,

"I know! I know! And it's all my fault!" she said. She cast a spell using the crystal to seal the door shut like melting steel. Confident it would hold, everyone backed up and waited for Jezebel's orders.

"Alright, everyone take the secret passage and meet in the old bookshop. Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, you go retrieve Jareth, Sarah and Jack. And take this!" she said. She threw a crystal to Hoggle who caught it and said,

"What's this?" he asked.

"Jareth's powers. He'll need them! Go quickly! I'll meet up with you as soon as I can!" she ordered as the Goblins ran down the closest set of stairs. Hoggle was about to follow them, when he stopped and said,

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll distract them! Now go!" she yelled as the door began to give way.

"But..."

"That's an order!" she commanded.

"Yes your Highness!" shouted Hoggle running down the stairs. Jezebel braced herself for action with every thud of the battering ram upon the door. Then a sharp pain arose and she clutched her chest and gritted her teeth. At that moment, the door fell in and dozens on tall, gangly dead looking Gurnocks charged in. Concentrating, the crystal began to glow as Jezebel shouted,

"Catch me if you can, boys!" Then she dropped the crystal and disappeared just as a great explosion erupted from the small glass ball. The Gurnocks stumbled and fell. When they got up, they saw Jezebel waving at them from the top of the stairs.

"Get her!" one in front yelled. They chased Jezebel all over the castle as she disappeared and reappeared in the most inconvenient places just out of their reach. She ran them into walls, suits of armor and each other before they came to a great room with various sets of stairs everywhere going every direction imaginable. They looked over their heads and saw Jezebel running down, or up, or whatever way she was running over them. They jumped up in feeble attempts to catch her. They went down and up various ways trying to get a just a piece of her clothes. But she would go sideways and everyway to avoid their long claw like fingers. Finally they had actually seemed to catch up with her, when she jumped off the stairs and turned into a hawk and flew out the window leaving them to jump after her and crash into each other and on the floor below.

She flew desperately until she reached the forest edge. Then in a flash of light, she fell from the sky, changing back into herself and crashed into a rough patch of bushes below. As she slowly and painfully got up, she became dizzy for a moment before she wandered into the woods, hoping to find her companions.

&&&

Hoggle paused by a tree and caught his breath, clutching Jareth's power's tightly to his chest.

"Come Sir Hoggle! We must press on!" urged Didymus.

"That's easy for you to say! You're riding!" huffed Hoggle glaring at Ambrosious who whimpered.

"Don't you pay him any mind, my loyal steed, he's just cranky!" comforted Didymus patting Ambrosious on the head.

"Cranky? The kingdom is in trouble, the King is missing, and Jezebel might be dead! I think I'm more than cranky!" yelled Hoggle as Didymus dismounted.

"Now see here!..."protested Didymus getting nose to nose with Hoggle. Just then Ludo let out a huge growl and picked both up by either their shirts or their tails.

"Ahhhh!" they yelled in unison. Ludo shot them a glare and said,

"Sarah need friends!" They fell silent before Didymus said,

"My brother Sir Ludo is right! We must stop bickering and find Milady Sarah!"

"Aye!" sighed Hoggle as Ludo let them down.

"Ludo help Sarah!" cried Ludo as they pressed further into the woods searching for Sarah.

&&&

Marin stood on a balcony overlooking the Labyrinth and said while holding a peach,

"I think it's about time I meet the Famous Sarah Williams and see why Jareth fancies her so. Maybe I can meet this Captain Jack Sparrow as well!" he said to himself chuckling softly.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

They were quite annoyed with Captain Sparrow when they had to backtrack to find him. When they did, Sarah and Jareth saw an all knowing twinkle in his eye that made them very suspicious. But he just silently rejoined them, with no explanation to where he had been, content as a cat. They kept on through the Labyrinth, until they came to two large doors with exaggerated brass door knockers. One had a ring in his mouth and the other had a ring in his ears.

"I remember these two. It was right after I found Ludo..." Sarah trailed off as her face fell with worry over her friends. Jareth put a hand on her shoulder and said,

"I swear we'll get them out, Sarah." She turned to him and smiled. Then she found herself unable to look away from his face.

"So...which of these two characters should we try?" said Jack interrupting them much to the embarrassment of Sarah and the frustration of Jareth.

"It's very rude to stare!" yelled the door knocker with the ring in his ears causing Jack to jump back a little. Sarah stepped forward and said,

"Hello again!"

"Huh?" said the first door knocker as the second mumbled,

"Hello!" Turning back to Jareth she asked,

"Which one should we go through?" Folding his arms, Jareth shrugged,

"Ask them."

"But they don't know! Their just the knockers!" she said as Jareth brushed past her saying,

"Well that is what I told them to say to you!"

"What?" she said but Jack answered for Jareth,

"After all, Luv. What kind of door knockers would they be if they didn't know where they lead?"

"So you told everyone to lie to me the first time around?" demanded Sarah to Jareth. He simply grinned,

"Nothing is what it seems!" Then he turned to the one with the ring in his ears and yelled,

"WHERE DOES THIS DOOR LEAD?" The first knocker replied,

"To the Enchanted Gardens on the edge of the Forest and the Bog of Eternal Stench." Jareth turned back to them and said,

"Perfect. That's the shortcut and much easier route to the Castle. We'll still have to cross the Bog, but at least we won't have to worry about annoying Fierys or disappearing into a hole!" Then he turned back to the door and took the ring and knocked three times. As the door opened to a lush and lavish gardens, Jareth smirked,

"Well, Jezebel certainly remembered to clean up this place!" He stepped inside with Sarah and Jack following.

"What's this Bog you two keep talking about?" asked Jack as they wandered through the hundreds of flowers and fountains that made up the gardens.

"The most filthy and disgusting place in the Labyrinth. A sharp contrast to these gardens." answered Jareth. Sarah looked over her shoulder at Jack and added,

"One foot in the Bog and you stink forever! It NEVER washes off! And it smells so bad, that you can't even describe what it smells like!"

"Aw. That's a good piece of information!" said Jack.

"Yeah, it was just one of my many stops along the way through the Labyrinth the first time around. 'Through dangers untold'!" said Sarah as Jareth rolled his eyes but continued walking.

"What's that?" asked Jack.

"Part of what I had to say to get my brother Toby back from Jareth. 'Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered; I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen! For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom is as great! You have no power over me!'" finished Sarah as Jareth tried to keep his mask under control.

"Ain't that just a wee bit corny?" asked Jack.

"Well it had to be done. And I'm glad it was." said Sarah absentmindedly. Jareth stopped and said,

"Why don't we rest a minute? Maybe we can spilt up and try to find some food? Meet back here in ten minutes." Then he stomped off towards a grove of trees.

"Hey!" said Sarah calling after him.

"This forest don't shift and change like the Labyrinth does, does it Lass?" asked Jack.

"No." said Sarah shaking her head. Then heading towards the opposite direction, Jack said,

"Well then, I could use a bit of sustenance. See you in ten!" Frustrated with these infuriating men, Sarah made up her mind to have a word or ten with Jareth once and for all. She headed in the direction Jareth had gone.

Meanwhile, Marin had been watching the whole scene unfold with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He changed into a bird and went into the direction Jack had gone.

Jack was looking around, praying to find something for his growling stomach, when he saw a clearing and a huge bubbling mud puddle. And in the center of that puddle, reclined delicately, was Jezebel with her hair pulled up and smiling at her visitor.

"Hello." she purred. Jack gulped. She appeared to have nothing on save her birthday suit, and the mud was covering everything up to her cleavage.

"Evening." he said casually.

"I thought about what you said." she said.

"Did you now? And what struck you the most Milady?" he asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"You saw through me Captain. I'm sure you've realized that I'm not really in control of the Labyrinth? That I'm just playing an elaborate matchmaking game?" she said. He nodded,

"It was a nice plan, I must admit."

"Are you going to tell on me?" she questioned leaning forward to weave her forearms through the mud.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't." he stated. Then to the delight of his rushing blood, She stood up. But the mud instantly turned into a shimmering brown gown with embroidered leaves and twigs throughout the large bell skirt. The mud on her forearms turned to gloves as she stepped out of the pit. She smiled and said nose to nose with him,

"You wouldn't tell on me would you Jack?" He shook his head no.

"You do like me don't you Jack?" she said. Hesitant for a moment, he nodded yes.

"How much Jack? How much do you care for me?" she prodded. After a few long moments, debating within himself, he said,

"With all me heart Luv." She grinned,

"Since when?"

"Well I was attracted to you since Tortuga, but over the last few hours, and especially since I saw you dancing with those goblins, I've realized that...I think I'm falling in love with you." he said.

"Why do you love me Jack?" she asked. Surprised that she seemed to be taking this as one amusing joke, he replied,

"Well, you're smart, cunning, fun loving, kind, sweet and caring. Not to mention incredibly beautiful."

"Thank you Jack."

"But I think the main reason I love ye, is that, well, you know what it means to be free. Those magic powers of yours allow you to go wherever you want, do whatever you want and I know that I could make you happy with me. And I just know you'd let me."

"That's sweet Jack. Here." she said placing a peach in his hands.

"You must be hungry." she said. Looking down at the peach he said,

"So Luv. How do you feel about me? Jezebel?" He looked up and saw that she was gone.

"Jezebel!" he called. Then he sighed and looked at the peach.

"Of course it's times like these when I have to remember I love you because you're so BLOODY INFURIATING!" he yelled as if she were still there. He was about to throw the peach away when his stomach protested. Not wanting to eat right now, he was so upset, he tucked the peach into a pocket and walked back towards Sarah and Jareth mumbling under his breath,

"Why do you love me Jack?...Bloody woman!...Making me admit my true feelings...still playing games she is...I'll show her...I'll get her back for playing me like a fool!" Overhead, standing on a tree branch, Jezebel stood in her chocolate gown smiling wickedly. Then in a flash, her eyes turned to gold and she turned into Marin who laughed to himself. Then he turned into a blue jay and flew off.

Meanwhile, Sarah was trying to find Jareth when she heard the flutter of wings overhead and saw a blue jay pass by.

"Birds are lovely creatures aren't they?" said Jareth coming up behind her.

"Oh! Jareth, you scared me!" she said putting a hand to her chest.

"Sorry about that. So is there a reason you are following me?" he asked with amusement on his face. She squared him in the eye.

"Because I wanted to talk to you. We've been arguing all day but we haven't said anything new or...wait...why are your eyes golden?" she asked. Jareth's face fell and then much to Sarah's surprise, Jareth was gone in a flash of light and in his place was a tall, black man with shaggy hair and a blue suit.

"Gasp!" she cried.

"One mistake in eight hundred years. Not bad if I do say so myself." he said.

"Who are you?" said Sarah instantly on her guard.

"I am Marin. I'm an old friend of Jareth's." he said beginning to circle her.

"Where's Jareth?" she asked him. He smiled and she instantly felt ill.

"Oh probably brooding somewhere in the grove."

"So...if you're his friend, are you going to help us get to the castle?" she asked not knowing whether to trust him or not.

"Unfortunately I'm a little busy at the moment. I would if I could." he lied.

"Oh." said Sarah.

"I just thought I drop in to see what kind of woman would make the king give away his first kiss to." said Marin.

"Jareth's never kissed me." she said.

"Well if he hasn't yet, he wants to. After all, a Fae can only give away their heart once. And that is always the first person they kiss. Of course that means the Fae can sense if it's meant to be or not but then, I guess you knew that right?" he asked her.

"Of course." she lied.

"Well it was nice meeting you. Do tell Jareth I said hello!" he smirked. She didn't know why but there was something about this guy she just didn't like.

"Yeah sure." she said. Then Sarah watched in wonder as he turned into a blue jay and flew off. She walked away and soon found Jareth sitting in a gazebo made of ivy covered glass. It glimmered and splashed in rainbows. Sarah was afraid to touch it for fear it would break. But she stepped onto it and after a few moments hesitation, said,

"So...did you find anything to eat?" she asked. Jareth just looked at his hands as he asked,

"Is it possible in your world to fall in love with someone only after a few hours?"

"What?" replied Sarah. He sat back and tossed the hair out of his eyes.

"I didn't have the luxury my sister did. Traveling the Aboveground, learning about your world. I don't know how things work up there. So how does someone fall in love?" he asked.

"I don't think this is the right time to be having this conversation. We're running out of time!" she said. He stood up and said,

"That's why we're having this conversation. I need to know before you go back to your world, back to your life. And forget about me all over again." he said.

"I didn't forget about you! How could I? You turned my world upside down! You took my baby brother, I had to battle a world of fairy tales, you made me look at who I really was, and...and...you changed how I thought about love!" Sarah rambled on.

"Really?"

"I mean...yeah. One minute I think love is suppose to be romance, and passion and happily ever afters and the next...I realized falling in love is scary!" she said. Jareth smirked dryly and walked pass her.

"Thanks."

"It is! True love is letting someone see who you really are! It's like a job! You have to keep working at it and finding a middle ground and the fact that someone knows everything about you after you've spent most of your life keeping your inner most self a secret, it is scary!" she said.

"I suppose it is." he said.

"And when I was in the Labyrinth, the first time, you saw who I really was. A lonely girl who wanted fairy tales to be real because her parents had gotten a divorce and ruined happily ever after. And you loved me in spite of it and by knowing everything about me, you scared me. And..."

"Wait. What did you say?" asked Jareth.

"I don't know I say anything when I ramble." she said. He stepped up to her.

"You just said that I loved you."

"I did?"

"You recognized that I loved you." he said.

"I guess I did."

"Do you still recognize that I love you?" he said. She looked down and said,

"I do."

"And how do you feel about that?" he asked. Then she broke a grin and peeked up at him.

"Don't you know?" He smiled,

"No."

"I love you for it." she said. Then she closed the gap between them and touched his lips with hers. He returned the kiss and weaved a hand through her hair. Then a curious thing happened. Sarah remembered playing make believe with a little blond boy in the park. A little blond boy with one blue eye and one green eye. She pulled away and stared at him in wonder.

"What's wrong?" asked Jareth. She smiled in awe,

"It was you. You were the little boy who kissed me in the park."

"And you do not know how long I've waited to kiss you again." he said. They kissed again, before breaking away and hugging each other.

"I can't believe this ! It's absolutely crazy. In my world it is almost unheard of to fall in love within a few hours!" she said.

"Then I love this crazy world." said Jareth. Then the grove grew dark.

"What's happening?" asked Sarah a little nervous. Jareth just took her hand and pointed to the treetops.

"Watch the trees." he said. She did and saw little leaves fall, but they turned into crystal balls just before they bounced off the ground, each one illuminated an inner glow.

"Gasp!" Sarah exclaimed.

"This is where I get all my crystals from. Direct sunlight can't touch them yet or they break." Jareth explained.

"It's so beautiful!" she said watching the crystals fall. Then she heard Jareth humming to himself. Soon she was entranced as he began to softly sing.

_'Crazy world, _

_full of crazy contradictions like a child;_

_First you drive me wild _

_and then you win my heart with your wicked art;_

_One minute tender, gentle,_

_Then temp'remental as a summer storm._

_Just when I believe your heart's getting warmer_

_You're cold and you're cruel_

_and I like a fool try to cope,_

_Try to hang on to hope._

_Crazy world, ev'ry day the same old roller coaster ride;_

_But I've got my pride_

_I won't give in_

_Even though I know I'll never win;_

_Oh, how I love this crazy world.'  
_

"I always did love it when you sang!" Sarah said before they kissed again. Then they heard,

"Ah hem!" They broke the kiss to see Captain Sparrow grinning at them.

"If you two are quite finished 'eating', maybe we can continue?" he said cheekily. Soon they were walking out of the gardens silently. Jack turned back to see them walking hand in hand talking.

"So why do you look like my mother's boyfriend?" asked Sarah.

"Pardon?" he replied.

"My mother has this actor boyfriend who looks just like you." she told him as they began to step over overgrown tree roots.

"Well they say that some Faes have doubles in the Aboveground. So maybe that is fate's way of telling you that we belong together." he said as Jack rolled his eyes.

"Will you two please stop going on like that? And that's my way of telling you to shut up!" snapped Jack.

"Hey! What's your problem?" barked Sarah.

"A half hour ago you two were at each others necks and now you're all lovey blooming dovey!" Jack said bitterly.

"Well, we realized that we've been in love all along and we (or more specifically I) just haven't accepted it! It does appear to be possible to fall in love with someone after only one day!" she said. That made Jack pause in his tracks and shut his eyes trying to recompose himself. Then he continued on. Jareth quirked an eyebrow and said,

"I do believe something else is troubling our dear Captain Sparrow."

"Yeah, but what?" asked Sarah as they began to follow him again. But soon Jack paused again.

"What's wrong...whoa!" said Sarah as she stepped up beside Jack and his repulsed face. A fowl, gut retching smell reached their noses and burned their nose hairs off. It left a fowl taste in their mouths and hung off their clothes. Jareth came up to Jack's right and grimaced before he said plainly,

"The Bog of Eternal Stench."

"Oh Gosh! Just when I forgot how bad it smelled! Ugh!" said Sarah covered her nose with her wrist.

"If it's this bad now, it is safe to assume that it shall only get worst?" asked Jack resisting the urge to vomit.

"It is. Come on. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get out!" said Jareth leading the way. Sarah followed behind him and Jack turned back and took a few deep breaths of fresh air before taking off after them.

The bog bubbled and oozed with disgusting, thick brown slime. Sounds of flatulations could be heard all around them. The few trees that were there were long since dead. But even then, the golden glitter that was all over the Underground still glittered.

"Remember! Don't step so much as a toe in!" reminded Jareth reluctant to speak.

"Thanks very much!" whispered Jack his eyes watering.

"Maybe if we think of something else, it won't seem so bad!" said Sarah. After nodding in agreement, they walked in silence each thinking of something other than the bog. Jareth thought of how he would propose to Sarah. He knew she would say yes. They were destined to be together. Sarah thought of her family. Toby was a young boy now and until she realized she loved Jareth, he had been the light and the joy in her life. Her relationship with her father and stepmother was great. Even her practical stepmother couldn't put down the fantasy stories she wrote. And Jack thought of Jezebel. How she laughed, how she smiled, how she moved. The way she looked in candlelight. The way she looked all the time. He knew he loved her, but how dare she leave him dangling like that! But how can you love someone in less than a day? He decided to ask an expert.

"Jareth? May I have a word?" asked Jack.

"Could it wait until we get out of the bog?" asked Jareth.

"I wish it could!" said Jack looking ahead to make sure Sarah wasn't listening.

"Well?" said Jareth.

"Uh, why is it possible for you to fall in love in one day?" asked Jack. Jareth eyed Jack and said,

"Actually, I've been in love with Sarah since I was a thousand years old. She became attracted to me five years ago in her time and then she realized she loved me today. So really, we didn't fall in love in one day. But when I first kissed Sarah, I had only known her one day."

"Really? And how did that come about I wonder?" questioned Jack. Jareth sighed,

"I don't usually discuss my past with people I hardly know..."

"But?" said Jack wanting him to continue.

"But when I was a child I went Aboveground to explore. I found a little mortal girl playing in a park and I knew something about her was different. I felt as if I had known her my whole life though I knew nothing of her." said Jareth.

"Sarah." said Jack.

"Right. So I accepted her invitation to play and then I kissed her." said Jareth.

"But how on Earth could a child have known she was the one, if you hardly knew her, and barely knew what love was?" asked Jack. Jareth looked at him suspiciously. Why did he want to know? He tried to read his face, but this man was as good as putting on a emotional mask as himself. Blast! He sighed and said,

"I just knew." Jack fell silent before he heard Sarah call to them,

"Hey guys! We've reached the footbridge! We're almost out of here!" Jack looked up and saw the crumbled remains of a bridge, and a series of large boulders serving as a footbridge.

"Be careful Sarah!" said Jareth as he helped Sarah step onto the first stone. A series of flatulent sounds matched each footstep once she had reached the other side. Jareth followed suit saying,

"I only hope the goblins never hear this part of the tale!" Sarah waved to Jack,

"Come on Jack!" Jack stepped cautiously onto one stone but stepped back when the bog flatulated.

"Come man! We haven't time to waste!" called Jareth trying to breath through his mouth. Jack eyed them and said,

"My crew will never believe this!" Then he scampered across rather comically which made Sarah involuntarily giggle. Once Jack had reached the other side, she said,

"Let's get out of here!"

"Right!" said both men. Soon, they were fifty feet away and the fowl smell was gone. Jack stepped ahead of them and took a deep breath and joyfully said,

"Ahh! Now that's that rub!"

"Don't count your blessings yet, Captain. We still have to cross the forest and the junkyard to reach the gates of the Goblin City!" said Jareth.

"But now that we're out of the blimey bog, what could possibly go wrong now?" Suddenly a long, tree vine, snapped out of the ground, and wrapped around Jack's ankle. Before he could react, it yanked him off his feet and pulled him rapidly into the forest.

"WOOAAHHH! HELLPP!" he cried.

"JACK!" yelled Sarah. Jareth pulled her along and ran after Jack saying,

"Come on!" Sarah scooped down to pick up Jack's lost hat, and ran into the woods.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jezebel paused to catch her breath. Then she grimaced in pain. They were getting worst and coming more rapidly. And her powers were fading quickly. She was so drained she just wanted to curl up and sleep. But she had to find her brother. He was the Labyrinth's only hope. She continued on only to find a clearing of Fierys. Gangly creatures covered in orange fur with long skinny tails, they always were looking for a good time, and could always be seen with a smile of their face. They were some of the most pleasant creatures of the Underground. At times they could be the most annoying as well, since they had no concept that not every one could do their most favorite thing to do. Disconnect their limbs and body parts and then simply reattach them in various fun ways. They giggled wildly but even more so when they saw Jezebel come into their clearing.

"Look! It's the Princess Lady!" said one with his eyes in his mouth. Oh course, this cause them to spill out and when they landed on the ground they all yelled,

"Snake eyes!" They laughed at their own joke before asking Jezebel.

"Hey Princess Lady! Would you like to play with us?" asked one with a mustache as he stood on his detached head.

"Not right now, boys." she said.

"Hey Lady, are you okay?" asked one genuinely concerned at her tired voice. She spun to look at him, surprised at his seriousness.

"I'm fine," she lied. "I just need to find my brother." she said.

"We can help you!" volunteered one.

"Yeah! We can move around the forest quick as lightning!" said another. She looked at the five creatures and nodded,

"Thank you!" They cheered and then bolted into the woods whooping and hollering loudly. She walked in their direction when she heard a noise in the trees. On guard immediately, she looked in all directions as she called out,

"Hello? Fireys? Jareth? Hoggle?...Marin?" Then she felt something snap at her shoulder. She turned and saw Captain Jack Sparrow up in a tree fling a vine down that caught at her wrist. He flung down a second that caught at her other wrist and pulled her back unto the tree trunk.

"AAHHH!" she cried. Then Jack jumped down and said,

"Good afternoon, Milady!"

"Jack! What are you doing!" she yelled pulling at the vines.

"A little payback for that stunt you pulled on me back at the grove." he said tucking his thumbs in his belt.

"What? I haven't been to the grove today!" she said.

"Yeah right. And I suppose you didn't just arrange for me to take a ten minute joyride dragged on me back throughout the forest?" he said bitterly.

"No! The vines are just like that when something's wrong with the Labyrinth!" she explained.

"You know Jezebel, making me admit I love you is one thing, but still playing these games is another! Do you realize I could have been killed?" he said his voice rising.

"What did you say?" she whispered.

"I could have been killed Jezebel." he said seriously leaning on his hand on the tree trunk.

"No, before that. You...love me?" she said in wonder.

"I thought I did. I thought I was at least in love with the girl who tried to make goblin children smile when she was feeling miserable herself. Now I don't know what to believe. The selfish princess in the sexy brown gown who played me a fool in the Enchanted Gardens, or the kind woman who sang like an angel." he said with only a hint of sadness.

"Jack, I don't know much about love but, ...if you do love me...even a little...you have to believe me when I tell you I was nowhere near the gardens today!" she pleaded. Jack wanted to believe her, but he asked bitterly before taking out the peach in his pocket,

"If that wasn't you, then who was it then?" But she looked at the peach in horror and said,

"Where did you get that peach?" He eyed her.

"YOU gave it to me! And if you don't mind, I think I'll eat it while I think of what to do with you! If you remember, I skipped lunch!" he said lifting it to his lips to take a bite.

"NO!" she cried leaning forward to take a bite out of the peach first.

"Hey!" he protested. Then she saw her disgusted face chew and say,

"Man! I forgot how bitter these magic peaches taste!"

"Magic?" he said looking at the peach. To his amazement, it was already moldy and rotten with a maggot crawling around. He flung the peach away from himself before looking back to Jezebel. But he saw her eyes losing focus and her body going limp.

"Everything's dancing!" she cried weakly as the vines loosened and she fell into Jack's arms.

"Jezebel?" he asked before shaking her unconscious form.

"Jezebel!"

"She off to the Crystal Ballroom!" said a high pitched voice above him. He looked up to see five gangly creatures covered in orange fur staring down at him in silence. Jack gently lay Jezebel on the ground saying,

"What's wrong with her?"

"The magic peaches make people go to the Crystal Ballroom." said one.

"It's a dream world!" said another.

"If she says too long, she'll get lost in her dreams forever!" said a third.

"How do I wake her up?" asked Jack. At this they laughed at him.

"It ain't that kind of sleep!" said the first.

"Yeah! A crystal bubble will come by in a minute to carry her whole body away to the Ballroom! There's no stopping her from going neither!" said a fourth.

"But how do I get her out?" he said.

"They say if you hold onto someone going into the Ballroom, you'll get pulled along with them." said a fifth.

"Yeah but you'd have to hurry up and shatter the Ballroom before you get lost in the dream yourself!" said the second. Nodding and brushing the hair out of Jezebel's closed eyes, Jack said solemnly,

"Don't have much choice don't I?"

"Looky look! Here's the bubble now!" said the third pointing into the woods. Jack looked up to see a small glass ball floating towards them. Grabbing onto Jezebel's shoulders tightly, he said,

"Here goes nothing!" He shut his eyes and wrapped his arms tightly around Jezebel. She opened her eyes slightly to see herself in the bubble in a long flowing gown covered in diamonds. Jack saw what looked like silver glitter cover his line of vision. The Fireys saw Jack and Jezebel disappear together. They looked into the glass bubble floating by and saw the Ballroom and the various people in fine gowns and goblin masks dancing and twirling and having a grand time in the white ballroom with crystal chandeliers everywhere.

When Jack opened his eyes again, he saw the party goers laughing and carrying on. It reminded him of Tortuga. Only everyone was wearing a mask that resembled a goblin and dressed in black and white. He looked down at himself and found himself in fine black satin knickers and fresh new black boots and crisp white shirt. He looked to his right to a mirror and saw his hands and his face were the cleanest it had ever been. Even his fingernails were perfect. Then a familiar voice began to sing.

_'If I caught the world in a bottle  
And everything was still beneath the moon  
Without your love would it shine for me?'_

Jack searched the crowd and he saw Jezebel waltzing with another man before she disappeared again. He pushed through the crowd edger to reach her.

_'If I was smart as Aristotle  
And understood the rings around the moon  
What would it all matter if you loved me?'_

He saw her across the room in the middle of a group of women talking before someone got in his way and she was gone again. He chased her all over the room as she continued to sing,

_'Here in your arms where the world is impossibly still  
With a million dreams to fulfill  
And a matter of moments until the dancing ends  
Here in your arms when everything seems to be clear  
Not a solitary thing would I fear  
Except when this moment comes near the dancing's end'_

Jack shook his head and paused for a second. What was he looking for? Jenny? Giselle? Jezebel! That's the one! He continued on as half a dozen women brushed up against him trying to seduce him.

_'If I caught the world in an hourglass  
Saddled up the moon so we could ride  
Until the stars grew dim, Until...'_

He stopped and looked behind him and saw Jezebel, looking stunning with her hair swept up and silver glitter covering her face and white and black diamonds decorating her bosom.

_'One day you'll meet a stranger  
And all the noise is silenced in the room  
You'll feel that you're close to some mystery' _she sang as she stepped towards him. He took her in his arms and began to waltz her around the dance floor only caring about how beautiful she looked.

_'In the moonlight and everything shatters  
You feel as if you've known her all your life  
The world's oldest lesson in history_

Here in your arms where the world is impossibly still  
With a million dreams to fulfill  
And a matter of moments until the dancing ends  
Here in your arms when everything seems to be clear  
Not a solitary thing do I fear  
Except when this moment comes near the dancing's end

Oh, if I caught the world in an hourglass  
Saddled up the moon and we would ride  
Until the stars grew dim  
Until the time that time stands still, Until...' When the song ended, Jack leaned forward and kissed her passionately on the lips. She returned the kiss with an equal amount of passion and fire.

'I've forgotten something...blimey she smells like cherries and she tastes like wine!...What is it that I'm forgetting? I knew it a second ago...' thought Jack as he kissed her. When they broke the kiss, Jezebel smiled up at him her eyes sparkling. He smiled down at her and then looked over her shoulder and frowned. Everyone was staring at them and laughing. He looked all around and saw they only laughed more. Jezebel just ignored them and snuggled up on his shoulder saying in a voice that echoed in his ears,

"I love you Jack!" He looked around the room straining to remember, when he saw the clock. The clock had struck the hour before the thirteenth hour. Wait. Since when does a clock have thirteen hours? Then as quick as a hail storm, the memories of the last twelve hours rushed back to him. Sarah. Jareth. The Labyrinth. The Oubliette. The grove. The bog. The ride through the forest. Jezebel. Her smile. Her dance. Her voice.

"Jack?" questioned Jezebel content as a kitten. Much to her surprise, Jack took her by the hand and dragged her off the dance floor pushing them through the crowd that was trying to keep them back.

"Jack! Where are we going?" she questioned.

"We're leaving Luv!" answered Jack as the crowd around him protested.

"No! I want to stay, Jack!" she protested trying to pull away. But he only held his grip until they were out of the crowd. Jack saw no exit, but a glass wall shaped like the inside of a crystal reflecting his image back at him. Looking around, he saw a chair and using his free hand threw it at the wall. The glass shattered and the party goes yelled and disappeared. Jack and Jezebel floated downwards as remnants of the ballroom floated up pass them. Finally they landed on the ground roughly and fell unconscious.

&&&

Jareth and Sarah stopped running through the forest and caught their breaths.

"This would be so much easier if I could turn into an owl right now!" Jareth said panting.

"It's hopeless! We lost him a half hour ago!" said Sarah in despair.

"Don't worry. People have a strange way of popping up in the Labyrinth." said Jareth.

"Your Majesty!" called a distant voice.

"Sarah!" called another.

"Hoggle?" whispered Sarah in wonder.

"Hoggle!" yelled Jareth to the direction of the voices.

"They're over here!" yelled Hoggle's voice. Soon they saw the dwarf waddle out of the woods followed by Sir Didymus and Ambrosius and Ludo.

"Sarah!" cried Ludo.

"Hoggle! Ludo! Didymus!" said Sarah rushing forward to hug each of her friends.

"Sarah back!" said Ludo.

"Fair Maiden! I'm so glad you're safe!" said Didymus.

"Wait! Why aren't you at the castle being Jezebel's captives?" questioned Sarah. They fell silent and looked down guiltily.

"Jezebel didn't really take my throne did she? She only used her position as Fae Enchantress to take it for thirteen hours?" said Jareth calmly.

"Oh Majesty forgive us! Princess Jezebel and ourselves only had your best interests at heart! We did not want to commit treason!" pleaded Didymus.

"I forgive you." said Jareth. They all stared wide eyed at him before Hoggle said,

"You do?"

"Why would Jezebel take the throne for only a day?" asked Sarah.

"Knowing Jez, to get me caring about the kingdom again and us back together." explained Jareth.

"Oh." said Sarah.

"Well, I should have known. This is just like Jez. I suppose she sent you three here because she could no longer handle the kingdom am I right?" asked Jareth.

"No Majesty! Jezebel sent us to retrieve you for the kingdom is under attack! Gurnocks have taken the Goblin City!" said Didymus as Jareth looked within himself and hissed,

"Marin!"

"Your friend?" asked Sarah. They all stared at her before Jareth asked,

"What?"

"I met him in the grove. He had tried to pass himself off as you, but then he said he was your friend. But there was something about him I didn't like..." said Sarah.

"That would be his slimy, traitorous black heart. I banished him from the kingdom for an attempted assassination plot against me." he explained.

"Yeah that would do it!" she said in shock.

"We must find Captain Sparrow and get to the city!" said Jareth. Hoggle rushed after him and said,

"Wait Jareth! Jez wanted you to have this!" Jareth turned to see the crystal ball in Hoggle's long fingers.

"My powers." he said quietly. He reached to take it when he recoiled and said,

"No."

"Why not? You need them if we are going to save the kingdom!" said Sarah.

"Marin will detect another Fae with magic stepping into the city in five seconds. If I wait until we're inside we have the element of surprise." said Jareth.

"Well come on! Let's find Jack!" said Sarah moving forward. As they all followed, Didymus protested,

"Wait a minute! Since when did the pirate become our ally?"

"Ah shut up and come on!" said Hoggle ahead of him.

"Sir Hoggle, please let us not start this..." But he was cut off when a large Gurnock jumped down from the trees and roared at them.

"AHH!" they all yelled. The Gurnock swung his large, crooked blade towards their heads.

"SARAH WATCH OUT!" yelled Jareth pushing her down.

"Have at thee, Villain!" yelled Didymus before charging and beating on the Gurnock's ankle with his staff and growling.

"Didymus!" cried Sarah.

"Ludo call the rocks!" commanded Jareth. The large beast bent his head back and howled,

"AAAARRRRROOOO!" as Hoggle ducked and dodged the blade while Didymus made war with the Gurnock's foot. Soon three large boulders came towards the Gurnock out of the trees. Hoggle pulled Didymus and Ambrosius out of the way as the rocks barreled into the Gurnock, leaving him unconscious and quite flat.

"Come! We must find Captain Sparrow! If anyone can help us sneak into a Goblin City overrun with Gurnocks, he can!" said Jareth pulling Sarah up. Then the ground shook violently.

"What was that?" asked Sarah.

"The Labyrinth is self destructing. We haven't much time!" said Jareth leading them all quickly out of the clearing.

&&&

Jack awoke to find a sky at dusk above him and a pile of garbage below him. He got up and groaned,

"Bloody...my head!" Then he realized he was holding someone's hand. He looked down and saw Jezebel's unconscious form laying beside him. Noticing they were once more in their own clothes, he leaned over and patted her face saying,

"Jez? Jezebel Luv, wake up!" Slowly she fluttered her eyes opened and saw Jack's dark brown eyes staring back at her.

"Who are you?" she asked innocently.

"What?" he said.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she asked. He began to help her up as he said,

"Don't you remember anything?"

"I remember my name is Jezebel."

"Anything else?" She searched within herself.

"No." He sighed and took her hand saying,

"Come on. Best let you remember in your own time." They began to walk through the miles of garbage when Jezebel asked,

"What's your name?" He looked back at her and said,

"Jack."

"I like that name."

"Thanks." he said. A few more minutes passed when Jack climbed over a garbage hill and released her hand.

"Look! It's the edge of the city! We're almost there!" he exclaimed as Jezebel took off her gloves. Then she said cautiously,

"Jack?"

"Hmm?" he said eyeing the tall guard. She walked up towards him and said,

"I think I remember something." He looked down to her face and said,

"What?" she put a hand to his cheek and caressed it leaving him to shut his eyes and revile in her touch.

"I think I'm in love with you." With her hand still on his face, she stood on her tiptoes to touch his lips with hers. They began to kiss hungrily, when a series of images flashed in Jezebel's mind. Her childhood. Her parents. Jareth. Living with Aunt Minerva. Exploring the Aboveground. Meeting Jack. The Labyrinth. Sarah. Marin. The ballroom. Kissing Jack. She broke the kiss with a gasp and backed away,

"Jezebel what's wrong?" asked Jack.

"We didn't! But we did! And now that means...oh Man!" she said backing up covering her mouth with her hands .

"You remember everything?" asked Jack.

"Oh yeah! But...but I need to be alone right now!"

"What? Wait! Why?" asked Jack.

"When I started this I never expected this! Aw Man!" she said running away. Jack chased after her, yelling,

"Jezebel! Jeze..." Then he stepped on a long big rope. Only it wasn't a long big rope. It was the tail of a dog like creature as big as an elephant with four fangs, a pig snout, and garbage and grime in it's Multi-colored fur that appeared to be big garbage heaps a moment before. It yelped and then turned it's head to Jack and growled blocking his path.

"Ah cripes! This just ain't me bloody day!" Then the creature gave a great roar as it began to chase after Jack in the Junkyard.

Meanwhile, Jezebel heard the creature and started to turn back yelling,

"Jack!" Then, a group of Gurnocks stepped from behind the piles of trash surrounding her.

"Hello Princess!" grinned one. A second grabbed Jezebel by the waist and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"JAAACCCCKKKKK!" she screamed as they carried her towards the city.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jareth, Sarah, Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus and Ambrosious entered the junkyard calling Jack's name.

"Jack!" yelled Hoggle.

"Sir Jack!" called Didymus.

"Jack!" called Ludo.

"SPARROW! Answer blast it!" hissed Jareth as Sarah walked up to him saying,

"We'll find him Jareth. We've got to!" She looked down at the tattered and worn tricorn in her hands sadly.

"Quite a character, isn't he?" asked Jareth.

"Definitely grows on you!" said Sarah smiling bitter sweetly.

"JACK!" called Jareth after a moment of silence.

"Majesty! We've found him!" called Didymus. They rushed over and as soon as they turned the corner of a garbage heap, they saw Jack in front of a campfire surrounded by the bag ladies of the Junkyard with their huge stacks of processions on their backs.

"And that's when they made me their chief." finished Jack as the 'ladies' began to cackle around him.

"Ah hem!" said Jareth. They glared at Jareth, before sulking off. Jack simply looked at them as though bored and said dryly,

"So. Took you long enough."

"Well when you're dodging Gurnocks, you get a little sidetracked." said Jareth matching his tone. Ignoring him, Sarah said,

"Jack, we need your help! Jezebel didn't take over the Labyrinth for real! She..."

"I already know Luv." said Jack.

"You do?" asked Sarah. Before he could answer, the ground shook.

"Is that the Labyrinth again?" asked Hoggle.

"No, that's me new mate!" said Jack standing up. The dog like creature came back and dropped a stick at Jack's feet. Reaching up to scratch it's ear, Jack said,

"Good boy!"

"WRROFF!" Jack looked to the creature's belly and straighten up saying,

"Sorry. Good girl!"

"You trained a Junog!" exclaimed Didymus. Looking to the fox, he grinned and said,

"Mate, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" Shaking her head clear, Sarah said,

"So you knew about Jezebel's plan?"

"That she played us all for fools by trying to make Jareth care about the kingdom again and play matchmaker? Yeah, I know. I figured it out before the Enchanted Gardens."

"It might have been beneficial if you had told us!" said Jareth.

"Well it would have been beneficial if you had told me that Faes could fall in love in one day!" said Jack

"I beg your pardon?"

"Tell me. Is it just a Fae thing to fall in love one day, or can it affect mortals too?" asked Jack stepping up to Jareth.

"What the devil are you talking about?"

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Sarah. They turned to look at her as she said,

"You're in love with Jezebel aren't you?" Jack threw up his hands and said,

"Well! Me secrets out! Yes Jareth, I'm in love with your sister! I don't know why after that stunt she pulled an hour ago in the grove, but there you go! I couldn't resist mate! So do you want to hit me? After all that is a big brother thing to do ain't it? Go on! Hit me! Right there on me jaw!" He pointed to a spot on his jaw and waited. Jareth simply said,

"I'm not going to hit you Jack."

"Why not? I want you to! Maybe it would knock some sense back into me head!" said Jack turning his back to them and folding his arms.

"You said Jezebel pulled something in the grove an hour ago. What was it?" asked Hoggle slowly. Jack sighed,

"She got me to admit my feelings for her and then she disappeared. And of course she denied the whole bloody thing when I saw her twenty minutes later in the woods! And by the way Jareth, those dream peaches of yours, not a lot of fun mate!"

"You ate a peach?" asked Sarah.

"No Jezebel did. I don't know why, she gave it to me at the grove. And being the stupid lovesick fool that I am, I went in after her. That's how I ended up here!" said Jack with his back still turned.

"But you're sure you saw her at the grove an hour ago?" said Hoggle.

"For the last bloody time, yes!" snapped Jack.

"But that's impossible! An hour ago, she was having us escape the city to find you three while she was defending the castle from Marin and his goons!" said Hoggle. Jack shifted slightly and asked,

"Who's Marin?"

"The Fae that's taken over the Kingdom." said Jareth.

"And the Fae that probably pretended to be Jezebel back in the grove to give you that peach." said Sarah. Jack took this all in before saying,

"I'm a blooming idiot!"

"Well..."said Jareth as Sarah elbowed him before stepping forward and handing Jack his hat back saying,

"He tried to fool me too by pretending to be Jareth." Jack took his hat and nodded laughing bitterly at himself.

"I should have believed her. I only wish she had stayed around after we got out of the ballroom to...oh no!" said Jack.

"Something wrong?" asked Jareth.

"Jezebel! She ran away from me and back towards the castle!" said Jack.

"They must have picked her up by now!" said Jareth shaking his head solemnly.

"Well come on! We have to save her!" said Jack putting his hat on his head.

"How? We'll never get pass the guards!" said Sarah. Just then, the ground shook as the Junog bounded up before Jack. A wide grin spread wickedly on Jack's face. As the grin spread to Jareth's, Jack looked at him as he said,

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking mate?"

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" asked Hoggle as Ambrosious whimpered.

&&&

"Trash man!" said the scraggly old voice under the hood. The Gurnock guards exchanged a look The large Junog that the old creature rode, wearing a vest with six large pockets to hold trash in, just stood there panting happily. The ground shook again as they said,

"Alright! Go on!" said one. The doors opened and the scraggly voice mumbled,

"Thanks!" as he rode past. Once they were out of earshot, Hoggle looked over his shoulder and whispered,

"Where to?" Jareth's voice replied from within one of the pockets,

"Let me off at the nearest alley. Then when you get to the bookstore and see my signal, head up into the castle."

"Right." said Hoggle.

"And do hurry up, Hoggle. It smells horrible in here!" Jareth said.

"What's the matter? This ain't befitting a king?" said Jack sarcastically from his pocket.

"Let's just say I'm considering this either sheer madness, or utter brilliance!" whispered Jareth as the pocket jostled them along.

"Remarkable how often those two traits coincide!" whispered Jack.

"He's got you there, Jareth." said Sarah from her pocket. Hoggle soon stopped the Junog next to an alley and slid down, pretending to empty the trash into one of the pockets. In reality, he was helping his king out of his pocket. Once he shook the trash from his person, Jareth took the crystal ball from Hoggle and turned to leave.

"Jareth wait!" said Sarah struggling to stand in her pocket.

"Sarah what are you doing?" he asked.

"I want to go with you!" she said.

"You can't!" he said walking up to her pocket.

"But I want to be with you!" she protested. He smiled and said,

"If only you knew how happy that makes me! But you must help lead the goblins. They aren't known for common sense; that's why the Fae rule over them in the first place! They need someone with a level head."

"What about me?" asked Jack still sitting down in his pocket.

"They NEED someone with a level head!" said Jareth as Jack rolled his eyes.

"Ok, I'll do it." said Sarah. Jareth smiled and put his hand on her cheek and asked,

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" She brushed a hand through her hair and said with a disgusted look on her face,

"Are you kidding? I look awful!" He kissed her tenderly and said,

"You look beautiful." Then he stepped towards Hoggle and helped the dwarf back into his place and said,

"Take care of her Hoggle." Sarah smiled at Jareth once more before settling down in her pocket again. The Junog walked away and down the street. Jareth watched them warily, before he took the crystal in his hand and said to himself,

"Here's to second chances!" Then he shut his eyes, and allowed a bright white light to engulf his body.

Meanwhile, Hoggle stopped the Junog as the ground shook again. Jack peeked his head out before jumping out, sending trash flying everywhere. He shushed the noise as though it could hear him. Then he helped Sarah out. The ground shook once more.

"It's getting worst!" she said.

"Aye!" agreed Jack. Then both helped Ludo climb out.

"Come on big fella!" said Jack as Ludo replied,

"Thanks friend!" Jack just nodded before saying,

"That's nice mate. But if you would be so kind to get off me foot?"

"Huh?" said Ludo looking down to seeing his rather large foot on Jack's smaller one.

"Sowwy!" said Ludo as Sarah led Hoggle in the bookstore. He stepped off Jack's foot leaving Jack to limp and say,

"Don't mention it!" Before turning to the store, Jack paused to hear rustling from the last pocket. He looked inside and reached a hand in only to come up with Sir Didymus who said,

"Thank you very much." Jack nodded as he retrieved Ambrosious as well who licked his face in thanks. He made his way to the door, when the Junog tried to follow him in. He spun around and pointed at the creature saying,

"No! Stay!" It whimpered in response.

"You heard me. Stay! That's a good girl!" Then he ducked inside. Seeing Ludo was too large to get in the door, he asked Sarah,

"How's Ludo suppose to get in?" He heard a loud scraping behind him as Ludo pulled the entire front wall of the store open like a door and shut it behind him. Looking back to Sarah's face, he said,

"Forget that I asked, Savvy?" She nodded smugly. Then Hoggle cried,

"Hide! The local patrol is coming by!" Sarah, Jack, Hoggle, Ludo and Ambrosious ducked behind the counter.

"I shall not hide! I shall take them all on! Any time! Any place! Any..." Jack grabbed the small fox and grasped his mouth shut.

"Stealth and the element of surprise aren't your strong points are they Sir Knight?" he whispered. Then Jack saw Sarah staring at him fondly.

"Can't resist me can you Luv?" he grinned.

"You know, five years ago, I would have definitely fallen for you." she concluded.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You are what a lot of foolish, over imaginative girls' dream of. A handsome, dashing, pirate captain as cunning as a fox and unresistingly and charmingly dangerous. If I hadn't fallen for Jareth, I would have fallen for you. Guess I can't resist bad boys!" said Sarah.

"So if Jareth weren't around, and Jezebel weren't around, would you still fall for me?" he asked.

"Maybe. But I don't think so. Now I can see there is more to you than what you appear. And I don't think I could fall in love with that. Jezebel might, but it's not for me." she said.

"Is that why you love Jareth? Because you see what's behind the appearance and you've fallen in love with that?" asked Jack. After thinking over a bit, she said,

"Yeah! And what about Jezebel? Why do you love her?"

"Freedom." he said. He continued at her strange expression.

"She's lived a life not bound by propriety or social expectations really. Those powers have allowed her to know freedom. There's no greater trait I admire more. Funny ol' world ain't it? We both finding true love in a day's time."

"Do you think Jezebel feels the same about you?" asked Sarah. Jack thought back to the Crystal Ballroom.

"_I love you Jack!"_ echoed Jezebel's voice in his memory.

"I know it." he said. Hoggle interrupted their conversation by saying,

"Coast is clear!" They all stepped out. The dwarf looked around the shelves saying,

"Now if I were a hidden lever, where would I be?" Sarah yanked on an old candlestick and an small opening opened in the floor.

"Is that it?" she asked.

"Nah! I need the one big enough for Ludo to get through!" he said. As they searched the dusty, cobwebbed bookstore, Hoggle pulled a book off the shelf. A loud click was heard and then the entire bookcase shifted back revealing a large, dark opening.

"Ah! This is it!" said Hoggle leading the way in. Sarah stepped in behind him with Sir Didymus. Ambrosious shivered and whimpered.

"AMBROSIOUS! COME IN HERE AT ONCE!" called his master. When the dog failed to comply, Ludo picked the dog up and threw him in with a yelp before he headed in himself. But he got stuck in the doorframe.

"Huh?"

"Oh Blimey! What now?" asked Jack.

"Ludo? Are you stuck?" asked Sarah from within.

"Ludo stuck!" said the rock caller. Jack sighed and put his hands on the beasts back staying,

"Right! I'm going to push, you three pull, Savvy?" called Jack to the trio within the passage.

"Right!" said Sarah as they took Ludo's hands. They pushed and pulled while Jack said,

"Come on mate! Get in there!" Inside, Didymus huffed,

"Suck it in my brother!" Finally, with a pop, Ludo tumbled in. But he caused Jack to stumble backwards until he tripped and fell down the hole in the floor.

"WWWHHHHOOOOOAAAAAA!" cried Jack. Sarah stepped out yelling,

"Jack!"

"Come on! This way!" said Hoggle pulling her down the passageway. The group of goblins sat solemn and frightened as they waited. So imagine their shrieks as a large human fell and rolled across the floor from the secret passage. When he landed on his back he said,

"Ow!" Sarah and the rest of the group came down the steps and ran up to Jack on the floor. Getting nose to nose with Jack, Sir Didymus asked,

"Sir Jack! Art Thou wounded?"

"Nay Sir Knight! Just me pride Tis all!" responded Jack dryly.

"Well you don't have to be sarcastic about it!" said Didymus before Sarah pulled Jack up and Hoggle handed him his hat.

"It's the Sarah Lady!" said one of the goblins.

"Jareth sent us! He wants us to go back in the castle and take it back from Marin." explained Sarah.

"How? They're bigger!"

"Scarier!"

"Meaner!"

"Smellier!" cried the Goblins. A loud wave of protests erupted before Jack cocked his pistol and shot it into the air to silence them.

"That's better! Now! What is this I hear?" asked Jack stepping around the room.

"You're goblins! Children have nightmares about you! You strike fear in the hearts of men on a cold dark night in the woods, and you've inspired folklore and legends! Who's ever heard of a Gurnock? I haven't before I came here!" he continued causing the goblins to shout and nod,

"Yeah!" He looked them in the eyes and said,

"So what are you going to do? Shake and quiver in fear and let them Gurnocks make fools of you? Ruin the good name of Goblin?"

"No!" the cried.

"Or...are you going to follow us to the castle and show them Gurnocks what goblins are made of? Who's with me, yay or nay!" said Jack waving a fist in the air. They were about to shout out their answer when they died down and one said,

"Which one means yes?" Jack rolled his eyes and said,

"Yay!"

"YAY!" they shouted.

&&&

Marin entered the throne room to see Jezebel glaring at him as she stood surrounded by his guards.

"By Merlin, you are a beauty!" he said.

"Bite me!" she said.

"Love to. But I want you to be able to enjoy it!" he quipped.

"I could never enjoy anything with you!" she hissed.

"And I suppose you could with Captain Sparrow?" he asked. Satisfied he had quieted her, he began to circle her and said,

"You know, he told me about how he feels for you. Did you know the fool's in love with you? What is it with you Rambrows and falling for mortals?" he asked.

"You shall not speak my family name. You are not worthy!" she said quietly. He stepped up to her.

"No matter. Once I've kissed you, you'll forget all about Captain Jack Sparrow!" He took her face in his hand roughly and leaned forward to kiss her, when a current of electricity shot from Jezebel's lips and shocked Marin back with a bloody lip.

"AHH!" he cried touching his lip. He looked back at her surprised face and said,

"Who knew the rules of magic kept Faes from cheating on their loves!"

"It wouldn't be true love if the Fae cheated in the first place!" she said.

"Ah, but what of Captain Sparrow? He's not bound to the rules of magic. What's to keep him from having a girl in every port? Or to even come back for you?" asked Marin cruelly. Jezebel felt weak at this possibility but said nothing. Smiling sadistically, Marin waved a hand over her eyes and said,

"Don't worry my pet. If I can't have you..." Jezebel gave into her heavy lids and fell backwards. The throne room was quickly replaced with her bedroom. As she fell, seemingly in slow motion, her clothes changed into a white pantsuit with a white overskirt, and a white, brown, and gold feather embedded cape. She landed on her soft bed with her arm draped over her waist and her other hand up by her ear. Marin continued as Danny growled and barked at him,

"...No one shall." Turning to leave, he ignored Isaac's protests, and the fallen red, orange and yellow leaves crunching beneath his feet, leaving Jezebel into an eternal sleep. Meanwhile, a white owl took off from his place on the castle wall and flew into the sky.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Hoggle had been lifted by Ludo to look at the sky, watching for Jareth's signal. He would duck down every time a Gurnock patrol would pass. Meanwhile, the goblins had prepared their armor and their weapons for the greatest battle yet. And they waited. And as they waited, Jack took up a quick hand of poker with a few of the guards as Sarah paced the room. He put down his hand and said,

"Full house. Beat that!" The other players groaned as Jack looked to Sarah and said,

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor darling!"

"How can you be so calm?" she asked as she paced.

"I do this sort of thing for a living remember?" he said. Then Hoggle saw the owl in the sky and jumped down saying,

"That's the signal!" Everyone stood up and headed towards the stairs. Jack put a finger up to his lips as they reached the top. He opened the door, and saw a large hallway with various and rich looking items. Items one might find in a castle. He saw a lone Gurnock guarding a door. Having the rest stay for a moment, he crept up to the turned guard and tapped his shoulder. The creature turned just as Jack's fist connected with his Jaw. Sprawled out on the floor, the creature never saw the army of goblins being lead by a pirate, a young girl, a dwarf, a fox riding a dog and a rock caller.

In the grand dining hall, Marin sat and sipped his wine, before commenting to his Gurnock captain,

"Ten more minutes and the Labyrinth will succumb to the spell completely and be all mine!" As he said this, the ground shook violently knocking things off the wall. When it stopped, a loud knocking could be heard.

"What's that?" asked the Gurnock captain.

"Just the Labyrinth." brushed off Marin sipping his wine. The knocking came again, only to be followed by a loud bang as the door was kicked in. Standing up in surprise, Marin saw Captain Sparrow and Sarah Williams leading a crowd of goblins into the room.

"Honey, I'm home!" called Jack mockingly. Marin waved his arm and shouted,

"Gurnocks! Come to me!" Appearing out of nowhere, the other half of the room was filled with Gurnocks brandishing crooked weapons.

"Attack!" said Marin pointing to the goblins.

"Have at them lads!" yelled Jack to the army behind them. They all passed Jack to run up to the advancing Gurnocks. Swords and shots clashed as the goblins fought and yelled along with the Gurnocks. Jack sliced into a few Gurnocks as Sarah hit them over the heads into unconsciousness. Jack looked and saw Marin running up a set of stairs.

"Come on!" said Jack to Sarah running after him. Then the ground began to shake continuously threatening to knock them off their feet. When they entered the seemingly empty throne room, Jack looked around and said to Sarah,

"Where is he?" Then a blue fireball hit Jack across the room to crash into a wall.

"Jack!" said Sarah rushing forward to help him. But much to her surprise, she floated up into the air near the ceiling. Marin stepped transformed back into his original form from the shadow he had been and said to Captain Sparrow,

"What's the matter Captain? Couldn't get Jezebel to give you the time of day so you decided to steal Jareth's girl?" Jack grunted and struggled to sit up as Marin looked up to Sarah who was trying to get down, her arms fraying about. He continued,

"Can't say I don't blame you. I might try it myself."

"Where's Jezebel?" grunted Jack.

"So you do still care about her? How sweet! Don't worry Captain. She's sleeping. And she'll sleep forever until, huh, true love's kiss wakes her. Don't you hate these fairy tale stereotypes? I know I do. Too bad this fairy tale won't come true!" said Marin as a blue fireball began to glow from his hand. As he aimed for Jack, the white owl swooped in from an open window and ruined his concentration. The wind picked up, having Marin cover his eyes. When he opened them, he saw Jareth, dresses in a white suit and a feathered cape, step out from the entryway beside Jack glaring dangerously.

"Jareth! So glad you could join the party!" joked Marin.

"Your fight is with me Marin." said Jareth.

"Oh? Too bad I don't fight fairly!" said Marin as Jareth began to step towards him.

"STOP!" said Marin preparing to throw a fireball up at Sarah.

"One more step and she dies!" continued Marin through gritted teeth. Seeing a metal shield hanging on the shaking wall, Sarah struggled to reach it. Jareth replied,

"It's over Marin. I'm taking the Labyrinth back as we speak." Marin looked out the window at the Labyrinth. Sure enough, the blue glitter that had begun to sparkle in the Labyrinth, was fading and being replaced by gold. He hissed at Jareth,

"You know, just for that, I think I'll kill her anyway!" He fired just as Sarah grabbed the shield and held it up to protect her. The fireball bounced off the shield and came back at Marin. The shock caused Marin to glow blue and scream in agony.

"Jareth!" yelled Jack tossing the Goblin King his cutlass from his spot on the floor. Jareth caught it and plunged it in Marin's stomach. He gargled and fell onto the floor. The Labyrinth stopped shaking and glowed completely gold in the rising moonlight. Jareth held out a hand to gently float Sarah down. Then he helped Jack up and handed him his cutlass saying,

"Nasty business that."

"The man was in pain. Twas mercy if you ask me." said Jack wiping the blood off his sword with his handkerchief. They heard a low laugh come from Marin's dying body,

"Mercy? That's rich!" Jareth stepped up to him and said,

"Well then I suppose I'll just end your suffering by turning you into what you've always acted like. A mirror trying to copy me." Marin laughed up blood,

"A mirror? How original! But if I may make a request?"

"Go on." said Jareth stiffly.

"Give me enough magic to transport myself to the place of my choosing!"

"Very well. Providing it's not to be embedded into someone's body!" said Jareth.

"Like I would stoop that low!" said Marin as he got paler. Jareth produced a crystal and threw it up into the air. When it came back down, Marin was gone, and a blue sapphire encrusted mirror in the shape of a blue jay laid in his place. Then in a flash of blue light, he was gone.

Jareth turned back to Sarah and stepped up to her saying,

"And what do you think you were doing? You could have gotten hurt!"

"Excuse me! I was defending myself!" she protested.

"Don't you think I would have saved you?"

"Well..." But Jack stepped between them raising his pointer finger saying,

"I hate to ruin this romantic banter, but I've got a bonny lass to wake up from eternal sleep. So if you would be so kind to direct me to her bedroom?"

"Up the stairs, down the corridor and up the stairs at the end." said Jareth. Jack held up his hands like in prayer and nodded his thanks before running off. Watching him go, Jareth said,

"Who'd thought my future brother in law turned out to be a pirate?"

"Who'd thought my future husband would turn out to be a Goblin King?" said Sarah. Jareth looked down at her smiling face and said,

"You mean that?" She said in reply,

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered; I have fought my way to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, to take back the heart, that you have stolen!" He pulled her into a deep and tender kiss in response.

A curious thing had happened when the ground stopped shaking. The goblins watched in awe as the Gurnocks glowed a bright gold and their skin peeled back to reveal beautiful Faes of all shaped and colors to step out and stretch as though they had been sleeping. Jack saw this too as he ran down the hallway. Everything seemed to go in slow motion before Jack bounded up the stairs. When he reached the top, he saw the outdoor garden filled with furniture and white snow and frost on each globe. He saw a shivering blue fox next to a frozen rainbow colored scarf on the vanity say,

"Hurr-hur-hurry!" Jack looked to the bed, and saw Jezebel's still body. He stepped up to the bed, his boots crunching in the snow and the dead leaves. He kneeled to the right of the bed and looked down at the still woman. He brushed the cold snow of her face and smiled.

" You are my horizon. You're what I've been searching for." And with that, he kissed her cold lips passionately as all around him, the snow and ice melted away, the leaves disappeared, and the trees and flowers came into full bloom again. When he broke the kiss, Jezebel's eyes fluttered open and saw his dark eyes bearing down into her soul.

"Jack! You came!" she exclaimed touching his face.

"You lied to me!" he said. Her face fell. She sat up a little and said,

"What? Oh Jack! I did! I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?" He put a finger up to her lips and said,

"Shush! You told me no magic being could take something from a non magic being!" Confusion lit her face.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well you don't think I'm going to let you get away with stealing me heart, do you?" he said smiling cheekily at her. She smiled and said,

"Oh Jack, I love you so! I'm so sorry I ran away before!"

"Apology accepted darling. You was just scared is all." he said running his fingers through her hair.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if you didn't come for me!" she said.

"Why say that, Jezebel?"

"I was so cruel to you. And you're a sailor. Why would you want to tie yourself down to one girl?" she asked. He smiled and said,

"Because that's how these fairy tales end. The dashing hero has come in to save the day, and he sweeps the beautiful princess off into the sunset. And they lived happily ever after!" She smiled and said,

"What comes after happily ever after?" He smiled devilishly and climbed in the bed beside her. Flinging his hat to the floor, he snaked a hand behind her back and growled hungrily,

"Why don't we find out Savvy?" He kissed her again, but they were interrupted by a small giggle from the vanity. Opening their eyes, they saw Danny and Isaac watching them. Sighing, Jezebel broke the kiss and waved a hand in their direction. They floated off the vanity and headed towards the open wardrobe with Danny protesting,

"Aw come on Jez! We'll be quiet! JEZEBEL!" She closed the door just as they were tucked inside. Jack looked back down at his grinning girl, quite satisfied with herself. She laid back on the bed completely gazing up at Jack. He never wanted a woman so badly in his life. He growled again,

"Now, where were we?" He leaned down to meet her lips. After a few moments in heaven, they were interrupted once more by a,

"Ah-HEM!" Jack rolled off her to gaze dryly at Jareth, Sarah, Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo glaring at them.

"Didn't you skip a step, Captain?" asked Jareth icily.

"I forgot to undress her first?" offered Jack.

"Over my dead body!" said Jareth as Jezebel sighed and rolled her eyes.


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

Six months later...Aboveground time...

All of the Underground was there for the wedding of the year. Actually, the double wedding of the year. King Jareth had spared no expense for his marriage to Sarah Williams. All in attendance, the goblins, the rock callers, the Tunnelers, the Fae clan, and even some mortals from the Aboveground were dressed in black and white to watch the marriage of the king and his sister the Princess Jezebel to the pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow. Sparrow's crew were more comfortable with the fun-loving and rowdy goblins than the dignified, but kind Fae people. Up in the front, a mortal woman with short blond hair laughed to herself muttering,

"This is incredible! I must have fallen asleep reading one of Sarah's stories again! I am not surrounded by little monsters, and elves and pirates! I'm not!" Her husband, a tall man with thinning salt and pepper hair smiled to Joshamee Gibbs, Anamaria and the Turners beside him as if to excuse his wife. They nodded in understanding before the little blond boy piped up,

"Don't worry about my mom! She's in denial!"

"Thank ye, Master?..." said Gibbs with a raised eyebrow.

"Toby." said the boy as the foursome nodded in approval at the lad. Then a trio of goblin trumpeters stepped forward and blew their horns. All stood up and looked down the aisle as the massive doors opened and King Jareth and Captain Jack Sparrow walked in side by side. A fox stood by the doors and commanded the Goblin Guard down the aisle,

"PRE-SENT-ARMS!" They did as Sir Didymus announced,

"Presenting his Royal Majesty, Jareth, King of the Goblins, ruler of the Underground, Caretaker of the Labyrinth and Head of the Fae Clan! And Captain Jack Sparrow! Ruler of the Caribbean Seas, Caretaker of the ship, the Black Pearl, and Head of the Pirate Clan!" As they walked down the aisle, with the trumpeters still blowing their horns, Jareth whispered,

"You just had to throw that in didn't you?"

"Pirate!" whispered Jack.

"ARK! FULL OF BLARNEY! FULL OF BLARNEY!" said the colorful parrot of Mr. Cotton the mute as they pasted his pew with Jack glaring at the bird. When they stepped unto the alter, everyone took in their solid black suits. The King wore a fitted black suit and a long flowing black cape. The Captain wore a three piece fine woolen suit with new black boots that folded over the knee and a new black tricorn. Before they took their place, one mischievous trumpeter went into a hot jazz tune solo. Before the King glared in his direction, his fellow trumpeter smacked him upside the head to silence him.

"I don't know what's harder to believe. That we're in a world of magic and fairy tales; Jack's marrying into royalty; or Jack getting married period!" whispered Will to his wife who had to bite her lip from laughing. Then a string quartet of Fae musicians picked up their instruments and played softly. As the Wiseman with the bird hat came out to stand at the alter, the massive doors opened once more.

"Presenting Miss Sarah Williams of Maine and Princess Jezebel Minerva Alexis of the Underground being led by Court Advisor Hoggle the Dwarf!" And oohs and ahhs were to be had as Hoggle walked between the two radiant brides. Jezebel wore a fitted white dress with a flowing cape, and Sarah wore a flowing gown that hung off the shoulders. Both wore the diamond encrusted crown of a Fae Princess. Jack smiled widely as he thought,

'I can't believe it! Who'd thought ol' Jack Sparrow from London's east end would wind up standing next to a king, marrying a beautiful princess? Who's thought I'd get married period!' Soon both brides were handed off to their waiting grooms. With a quick kiss on his sister's cheek, Jareth turned back to the Wiseman and nodded for him to begin.

"Marriage is...marriage is...darn it! I knew it a moment ago!" said the Wiseman looking through his notes as his hat rolled it's eyes.

"Perhaps we can just skip to the vows?" suggested Jareth.

"Yeah! There are only thirteen hours in a day you know!" cracked his hat.

"WILL YOU PLEASE BE QUIET!" barked the Wiseman before going on with the ceremony.

A little while later, King Jareth and Queen Sarah and Captain and Mrs. Jack Sparrow, or Prince Jack and Princess Jezebel as was their formal title, waltzed around the ballroom as the king sang along with the band,

'_As such a sad love  
Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel  
Open and closed within your eyes  
I'll place the sky within your eyes_

There's such a fooled heart  
Beating so fast in search of new dreams  
A love that will last within your heart  
I'll place the moon within your heart

As the pain sweeps through  
Makes no sense for you  
Every thrill has gone  
Wasn't too much fun at all  
But I'll be there for you-oo-oo  
As the world falls down  
Falling  
(as the world) falling down  
Falling in love

I'll paint you mornings of gold  
I'll spin you valentine evenings  
Though we're strangers till now  
We're choosing the path between the stars  
I'll leave my love between the stars

__

As the pain sweeps through  
Makes no sense for you  
Every thrill has gone  
Wasn't too much fun at all  
But i'll be there for you-oo-oo  
As the world falls down  
Falling  
(as the world falls)  
Falling  
Falling  
As the world falls down  
Falling  
Falling  
Falling  
Falling in love  
As the world falls down  
Falling  
Falling  
Falling  
Falling in love  
As the world falls down  
Makes no sense at all  
Makes no sense to fall  
Falling  
As the world falls down  
Falling  
Falling  
Falling in love  
As the world falls down  
Falling  
Falling  
Falling in love  
Falling in love  
Falling in love  
Falling in love  
Falling in love'

Then the band broke into a more livelier tune. All the goblins and the pirates toasted their pints towards the couples and the Faes started clapping along with the beat. Sitting at a table, Sarah's family and the Turners joined in the clapping. Jareth looked to Sarah and winked wickedly before singing, __

'Daddy, daddy, get me out of here!  
Ha ha I'm underground  
Heard about a place today  
Nothing never hurts again  
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here  
Ah ha i'm underground  
Sister sister, please take me down  
Ah ah i'm underground  
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here!'  


Jack smiled as his brother in law began to spin and twirl his bride along the floor as the goblins began to join in the dance. He looked to his right to see Jezebel walking out to the castle gardens. He quickly began to follow her as Jareth sang,

_  
'No one can blame you  
For walking away  
Too much rejection (na na)  
No love injection (na na)  
But down in the underground  
You'll find someone true  
Down in the underground  
A land serene  
A crystal moon, ah, ah_

__

It's only  
It's only forever  
It's not long at all  
The lost and the lonely  
That's underground

Underground  
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here!'

Jezebel looked over the garden at the setting sun over the Labyrinth. Wrapping his arms around his wife and noticing the garden hedges were arranged to be a maze, Jack said,

"What is with you people and mazes?" She laughed and said,

"We like challenges."

"Really? Well don't ever try challenge me Luv. You'd never win." said Jack with humor in his voice. Looking up to her husbands face, she kissed him before whispering,

"Catch me if you can, Captain!"

_  
'Heard about a place today  
Nothing never hurts again  
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here  
Ha ha i'm underground  
Sister, sister, please take me down  
Ah ha i'm underground  
Daddy, daddy, get me out_

Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground'

Jack chased Jezebel into the maze and their laughter floated up to the heavens. Inside, all the party quests, the pirates, the Fae, The Williams and the Turners joined the goblins and their King and Queen in the dancing. Jareth belted out, __

'Daddy, daddy, get me out of here!  
Ah ha i'm underground  
Sister sister please take me down  
Ah ha i'm underground  
Ah ha i'm underground  
Ah ha i'm underground  
Daddy daddy please  
Daddy daddy please  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Wanna live underground  
Sister sister take take me down  
Sister sister take take me down!'

_&&&_

In the Aboveground, somewhere around the Caribbean in 1675, laid the body of Captain Hector Barbossa in the grand treasure horde of the Isle de Muerta now belonging to Captain Jack Sparrow. The mutinous captain was now a pile of bones and clothes. But in a blue flash, a sapphire mirror in the shape of a blue jay appeared in the skeleton's still hands. In a blue glow, flesh appeared on the body and the hand grasped the handle of the mirror. A low chuckle could be heard echoing in the caverns.

The End...for now.__


End file.
